tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3341988485964338122024-03-14T02:59:30.665-05:00GlobecatGlobecat was founded in the summer of 2008 as a joint venture between Evan Sawdey and David Semonchik, college friends, bandmates, writing students, and all-around music junkies. After many discussions on the nature of album reviews, artist interviews, and the difficulties associated with the process of discovering new music and sharing it with the world, the two decided to start their own blog, in hopes of letting the musicians take part in getting their voices heard.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-60121061358425665822010-01-05T01:33:00.004-06:002010-01-05T01:50:46.203-06:00OFF THE RECORDS: The Triumphant Return/The Album You Need to Hear<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWFbsIXNhIjRA-qhNZgauLgW_i4hOfOrnsMI48KpZSrBvDpz9HNA7fh9YEQ7toWzyb93im0Ehr_HwrNGe54eSg-ZUT3ho5V3qBfTxxDYMXgd9hOD2ZWqBlUUpLMlZaYdhFooXDNVAMqgj/s1600-h/Off+the+Records+7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWFbsIXNhIjRA-qhNZgauLgW_i4hOfOrnsMI48KpZSrBvDpz9HNA7fh9YEQ7toWzyb93im0Ehr_HwrNGe54eSg-ZUT3ho5V3qBfTxxDYMXgd9hOD2ZWqBlUUpLMlZaYdhFooXDNVAMqgj/s400/Off+the+Records+7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423155741738239554" border="0" /></a><br />Happy New Years everyone!<br /><br />We know what you're thinking: what happened to the Globecat? Well, the big holiday rush wound up hitting everyone, including your staff here at GC, but, truth be told, there's been a project that we've been working on for close to a year now, and, with great pride, we are happy to be unveiling it to you right now.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.goodwithwordsalbum.com"><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2YHJMqhmH2p-hWxNYnF1IjZcA7hquDEqjB8_hTuZBr_aiAYiBuPNF1RL3n1FnR2XiWV2vJpoKjhg_sm3eNl1r2RXPadsXzXU29r4lioe3gnWiFkQywoqyVWNSAyI83YcZ1Sk_OjEacEq/s400/cover_closed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423157529951176914" border="0" /></a><br />It's called <span style="font-style: italic;">Good With Words: A Tribute to Benjamin Durdle</span>, and its genesis has been long and totally crazy. In short, this was a project spearheaded by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> to give tribute to the guy who got him into songwriting/recording in the first place. Ben is a fantastic songwriter (after all, remember the track he did for Globecat's <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2009/06/globecat-one-year-anniversary.html">One Year Anniversary</a>?), but he doesn't really "publicize" his songs that much. So, as such, many people were called on to record their own versions of some of Durdle's unheard-of classics, many of whom are GC alumni.<br /><br />Who, you might ask? Why, there's the incredible <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/interview-will-stratton.html">Will Stratton</a>, the super-fun <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2009/06/interview-hoot-hoots.html">Hoot Hoots</a>, our friend <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2009/10/interview-motorcycles-are-everywhere.html">Motorcycles Are Everywhere</a>, and the fantastic group <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/11/interview-marches.html">The Marches</a>, along with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Davecat</span> contributing a song as well! The whole album has been a labor of love from all the artists involved, and given all the hurdles that had to be overcome to get this album released, we are pleased as punch to finally have this see the light of day.<br /><br />So please, visit <a href="http://www.goodwithwordsalbum.com">http://www.goodwithwordsalbum.com</a> and download the disc (for free!), give it a listen, and blog about it/share it with your friends and family. This is one of the greatest things that GC has ever been involved in, and -- as you can see -- it was very much worth the wait :-)<br /><br />Exciting interviews coming soon -- thanks for sticking around!<br />--The GC StaffGlobecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-15019823472585922332009-10-15T01:00:00.002-05:002009-10-15T02:16:53.313-05:00INTERVIEW: Motorcycles Are Everywhere<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDKozuEdRLKMj7dspksRhW13Q86QHAbZpR2cFk0qVfxkhUiksJjfjJTIwKHKvZBh1ON3Ys9jDO1iFbCzvIDboFy06O6sCbDxQi4M2kjy24s1wxscQRtKY-8DMtozcnuWYTF-wsHDBleFh/s1600-h/MAEInty.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 464px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDKozuEdRLKMj7dspksRhW13Q86QHAbZpR2cFk0qVfxkhUiksJjfjJTIwKHKvZBh1ON3Ys9jDO1iFbCzvIDboFy06O6sCbDxQi4M2kjy24s1wxscQRtKY-8DMtozcnuWYTF-wsHDBleFh/s400/MAEInty.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392134270795546146" border="0" /></a><br />In short, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Motorcylces Are Everywhere</span> are now, literally, everywhere.<br /><br />Sound designer <span style="font-weight: bold;">Matt O'Hare</span> had made a living working the East Coast circut as a man with an ear for the obtuse, able to make a small living as a theatrical sound designer by making each show he did a work of art in and of itself, writing rock songs for shows that called for them and atmospheric landscapes for entirely different productions without as much as batting an eye. As he worked to make a living in New York City doing what he love, things, eventually, turned towards his own music.<br /><br />Motorcycles Are Everywhere -- the pseudoynm under which O'Hare has been recording -- just barely released their debut album <span style="font-style: italic;">1983</span>, an electro-rock stunner that melds waves of noise to remarkably considered song structures, resulting in a wholly visceral listening experience. Though you can hear elements of bands like Radiohead and Depeche Mode floating throughout the mix, MAE has emerged with a unique sound that couldn't be more appropriate for our era: fiery yet cohesive, chaotic yet digestable, poppy but with a sense of longing undercutting the whole experience. Yet there is one descriptor that sets MAE apart from his peers during these troubled times: <a href="http://www.motorcyclesareeverywhere.org/download.html">his music is 100% free</a>.<br /><br />Sitting down with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span>, O'Hare is more than willing to talk about how his album was largely made possible by the economic downturn, how wildly experimental his recording process has been, and how NYC can very much be a make-or-break arena for just about anyone in any field -- and how those very people very much populate the lyrical landscape of <span style="font-style: italic;">1983</span> ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">+++</span> </div> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>It's been noted that back in 2006, while you were still focused on sound designing, you once said that you couldn't write songs for yourself</b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b> -- only for pre-written material. Then, after the February 2009 production of </b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><i>The Maids</i></b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b> you worked on for Trinity Rep/Brown, things changed. What happened, and what ultimately lead to the creation of Motorcycles Are Everywhere?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I've been writing music since I received a Casio keyboard as a gift when I was ten or so. It was pretty clear from the beginning that the concept of learning an instrument simply to play preexisting songs was foreign to me. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was more interested in unusual sounds than I was in </span><span style="font-size:100%;">developing performance technique. I'm still not a very accomplished musician when it comes to playing the guitar (which I switched over to in junior high to meet girls). </span></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Then came the high school punk band. We wrote our own songs, but the hardest part was writing the lyrics. I don't think I wrote one stanza in high school that didn't make me cringe, so that always slowed the songwriting process way down for me. I had mountains of riffs and half-finished tunes, but I had no idea how to write words for them. Amidst the mid-nineties slump of post-grunge, I thought that all lyrics had to be self-referential and be about personal suffering in order to be interesting. And I was incapable of doing that in an honest way. I was just a suburban teenager with a pretty normal life, afterall. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Meanwhile, I was also acting in plays. It wasn't until college that my two interests came together, and I started writing music for shows that I was in. That was revelatory. Suddenly all the source material was right in front of me: the story, the setting, the characters, the director's vision. These elements gave me everything I needed to generate material; both music and lyrics. After that door was opened, I was much more prolific. However, my writing became exclusively focused on thea</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ter and intertwined with other people's ideas. N</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ot such a bad thing, and it certainly has a lot of influence over how I approach music now. It stretched me to places I wouldn't have gone on my own accord; trying to write in a Renaissance style or taking a stab at jazz, for example. But until recently, it looked like I had abandoned the idea of writing music solely from my own imagination. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What happened last year was that I started to no longer feel creatively liberated by theater. I had accumulated a lot of various technical skills and new ways to generate music and sound, and yet I felt like I wasn't using them to their fullest potential. There's only so much music and sound you can cram into a play before the story gets upstaged by it. However, there became an irrepressable urge to make music the total focus again. It was then that I decided to start MAE.</span><br /></p><p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>There appears to be a particularly bitter lyrical streak running through on this album, particularly with tracks like "The Photographer", which are self-depricating and venemous in equal measure. I</b></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3WUzrDoB-mKN2HtJkSaxtHldkH0_QUlmc3plzf9RojM7JrxSlV2hoMXH8b-g_TUGQb4HSjQpzXGtaSMrmpGNQXxaOQdpSGfFZcPvyn9l0KBaXG-HeF8lLbkd2eomiUHQrYQFFvulPgFSf/s1600-h/MAEirplane+01.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3WUzrDoB-mKN2HtJkSaxtHldkH0_QUlmc3plzf9RojM7JrxSlV2hoMXH8b-g_TUGQb4HSjQpzXGtaSMrmpGNQXxaOQdpSGfFZcPvyn9l0KBaXG-HeF8lLbkd2eomiUHQrYQFFvulPgFSf/s400/MAEirplane+01.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392134450175937378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>n what place did you write a majority of these songs? Would you say that this album has an overarchi</b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>ng "theme" at all? Given how the album's title refers to the year of your birth, to what degree is this disc autobiographical?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> was written almost exclusively in New York City. I was still struggling to keep myself afloat as a freelance sound designer amidst the aftermath of the financial crisis. When I left New York in May, jobs were still pretty few and far between. At that point, I was no longer living in the city fulltime, but renting a guest room from friends in Brooklyn when I had enough jobs booked to afford it. When I didn't have any work, I would go back to my parents' place in rural Vermont and record music until the next gig came along. It could be said that if it wasn't for the recession, I wouldn't have had the time to make </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Living in New York exposed me directly to a lot of aspects to our culture that I was only peripherally aware of beforehand. It's the city where people come to test themselves against the best in the world, whether they're an artist or an investment banker. For me, the whole emotional climate of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn is defined by a perpetual sense of competition and self-consciousness. This energy manifests itself in a lot of ways. For instance, you have people willing to let themselves be exploited for the false promise of fame, recognition, wealth, etc. Hardly something new, but it seemed like it was everywhere I looked. In the entertainment world, people are constantly working for free because of the thin hope that it may lead to something else. I've done it many times. On the other side of the equation, you have the people who recognize this dynamic and take advantage of it. It could be something enormous, like promising impossible returns on a $2 million investm</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ent in the case of Bernie Madoff, or it could be something as small as appearing in a risque photograph for an American Apparel advert with the promise that it will advance your modeling career. It's this idea of ambition as a form of currency: I promise to help you achieve your aspirations in exchange for your money, your body, whatever. Unfortunately, I think the exchange is often extremely one-sided. The promised rewards seldom seem to arrive. Throughout the songs of </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">, you encounter people stuck somewhere along the spectrum of the used and the users. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Somewhere along the way George Orwell's novel </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1984 </i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> became a central reference point for me in the writing process. In particular, I was very interested in the role that technology plays in maintaining the dynamic of power that Orwell describes. I was amazed at how relevant it continues to be -- perhaps now more than ever. I speak only for myself, but living in New York makes it easy to imagine a world where we will no longer have a private moment to ourselves. However, the funny (and perhaps sad) part is that there is no Big Brother forcing this perpetual surveillance upon us, we are willingly giving up more and more of our private lives for the promise of... social networking? Entertainment? The chance at becoming famous? I wish I knew. My take on Orwell's theory is that if your behavior is largely influenced by outside forces, whether it be an omnipresent authority or the social pressure to check for Twitter updates every five mi</span><span style="font-size:100%;">nutes, your mind no longer belongs to you but to those outside forces. You no longer possess yourself because you spend all day perpetually reacting to outside impulses. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">With all of this in mind, the songs of </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> aren't really about me directly. When writing, I thought of each song as a monologue delivered by its respective character. Sometimes I agree with this person and sometimes I don't. I was striving to capture not just my thoughts and feelings regarding the place I found myself in, but also to capture something about the people I was meeting, reading about, and interacting with on a daily basis. That said, there are definitely personal events that influenced the making of this record, but they're all mixed up with my imaginings and </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1984</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">. </span><br /></p><p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>Given how guitar-based some of your previous songs have been ("Whatever Happened to Bill Viola?" immediately jumps to mind), you seem to be taking a very conscious step towards more of an electro-rock direction with </b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><i>1983</i></b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>. What would you say your direct influences are, and how did they help shape the sound of MAE?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It was a conscious direction and it wasn't. Perhaps the most influential factor in why I moved in a more electroni</span><span style="font-size:100%;">c direction was that I was on the road so much. As a result, the musical instrument most available to me was my laptop. It's important to me in my work and also my music to make use of whatever it is I have available to me. I didn't have a band or rehearsal space, and I wasn't interested in making a folk album. What was left was my macbook and my voice, so that's what I used. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Another reason I embraced digital music was that it allowed me to incorporate some of the techniques I had developed in my professional work. Digital editing allows you play endlessly with how something sounds. The majority of the songs on </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> have a very simple structure because more effort was put into the sound of the instruments and how the vocals were treated. The logic is that if you make the song more accessible in one aspect, you can push the limit in another without alienating the listener. As a result, each song has a fairly distinct approach, which is something that would have been much harder to accompli</span><span style="font-size:100%;">sh with my meager resources if I was dealing with purely acoustic recording. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Before and during the writing process, I was listening to a lot of electro-type hip-hop. In particular, I was in love with Cadence Weapon's </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Breaking Kayfabe</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> album. In his songs, Mr. Weapon makes no attempt to hide the fact that he's using digital trickery. The seams between loops and samples are very prominent and an integral part of his sound. Jel, the beatsmith from Themselves and Subtle also does this, but perhaps to a less post-apocalyptic degree. So does El-P in his amazing opus </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>I'll Sleep When You're Dead</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">. Everything is chopped up and very dense, but it still hangs together like mosaic. Additionally, the subject matter that I was trying to address really lended itself to a more urban sound, so once a story started to emerge, I started to go even further with the electronic element. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Along with this electronic-based rap, I was listening to a slew of different bands. I deliberately tried to imitate the production on Wire's </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Read</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>And Burn</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Eps, which I think comes across on songs like "Astray</span><span style="font-size:100%;">" and "The Quiet Man". I love the sinister sound of The Swans, and also Liars' second and third albums to pieces, but my favorite album of the last few years has to be Battles' </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Mirrored</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> album. The amount of ideas and invention in those eleven songs is astounding. It's like the aural counterpart to anime, it's so high-stimulation. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Finally, I couldn't get enough of Deastro's </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Keepers</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> album. It's a solo, homestudio effort I believe. Very imaginative and just plain honest. There's a lot of agression on </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">, and listening to stuff like Deastro, Mario Diaz's de Leon's album </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Mira</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">, and Panda Bear's </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Person Pitch </i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">helped temper some of that raw, anger-fueled energy into something more positive. On </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">, maybe "Winston + Julia" and "Beautiful Criminal" are examples of this. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>It's not one of the most well-known facts about you, but a song that you wrote for a particular production ("Save Our Children from the Wolves" from the world premiere of </b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><i>The Insect God</i></b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>) has gone on to be covered by college vocal groups like Just Cuz. To what degree do your songs lend themselves to being covered, or -- more accurately -- </b></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>how well do you think your "theatrical songs" work as standalone pieces, out of context?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">When I write a song for a play that's going to be performed, the goal is to make something that makes sense within the world that the director, actors, and designers have created. Sometimes it's a fully fleshed-out song with musical accompaniment or sometimes it's something that needs to be performed a capella, or sometimes it needs to not be musical at all. As a sound designer, I'm committed to maintaining the rules of the story that we're trying to tell. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Because I've written music in so many different contexts at this point, I've been able to detect certain patterns and consistancies that are a part of everything I write. For example, no matter how the song is being delivered, rules of structure can always be applied, and each composer has his or her own way of structuring a composition. For me, there's always going to be a beginning, middle, and end in whatever way I define those concepts. As I mentioned earlier, I think by making the structure of a song readily accessible, it allows you to get away with much more in terms of the content. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Maybe it's this emphasis on structure that allows a lot of my work to be reinvented in very different contexts, but I'm not sure. I'm of the mind that any song can be reinvented in any way. It might not always be successful, but it can still happen. In this regard, a song is just like a play or any other form of story.</span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>How has being a sound designer ultimately shaped your musical experiences?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">When you spend all of your professional life listening, you're bound to develop a very sensitive ear. A sound designer will be able to classify different sounds by emotional response along with its more practical aspects. It no longer becomes enough to pipe in cricket noises to indicate to the audience that we are outside and it's nighttime. If he or she uses crickets at all, an experienced designe</span><span style="font-size:100%;">r will spend a good amount of time choosing from an array of different types of cricket sounds from all over the world. Ultimately, the final decision will be whichever one tells the story best, even if you're using a recording of crickets from Bhutan for a play set in Pittsburgh. This sort of attention to specificity means I spend a lot of time tweaking my music to the point where everything exists in the same world, or, at least, it's as close as it's going to get. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">In addition to making my ear more sensitive, being a sound designer has also dramatically changed how I actually listen. For me, sound design and composition are both highly visual processes now. Perhaps spending so many hours comparing audio to whatever is happening on stage, or anticipating what's going to happen on stage, has left my brain always wanting a visual counterpart to whatever it is I'm hearing. Like a mild form of synesthesia. When I'm mixing, editing, or just listening for pleasure, I keep my eyes shut a lot of the time because there's a whole visual aspect that's taking place. It's very helpful in the mixing process because it allows me to shape so</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9mv1FwBGbqcOmC2wEgVRTBW7t_UOV68TVdAlGVvwt37k-KvhAgSXIAIKDSDyPGVbK2bAZhR94LNsuj0K2by3puxoNAVrIIEg29cpbudEYkcXpBvAEFU3hjT5y5hzp0ThaXBrFcuL2wId/s1600-h/MAEirplane+07.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 323px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9mv1FwBGbqcOmC2wEgVRTBW7t_UOV68TVdAlGVvwt37k-KvhAgSXIAIKDSDyPGVbK2bAZhR94LNsuj0K2by3puxoNAVrIIEg29cpbudEYkcXpBvAEFU3hjT5y5hzp0ThaXBrFcuL2wId/s400/MAEirplane+07.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392134626230516914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">und in a very intuitive way. Almost literally moving sounds around the way you would different layers of images in Photoshop. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">On a practical level, sound design has also put me in many situations where I had to be very creative in order to solve a problem. I think anyone who works in theater professionally has had the experience of being expected to pull something out of thin air. In my world, you'll be asked to write an original composition on a harp in a place where you have no access to a harp nor the money to buy one. So I'll record some stuff on my classical guitar in an open tuning and spend hours tweaking it on my computer until it sounds more or less like a harp. One time I had to write the musical accompaniment to a fifteen minute avant garde opera with only thirteen pages of disjointed lyrics as a reference point. In three days. I had a drum machine, an old Roland keyboard, and M.I.A.'s </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Arular</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> album playing on the stereo for inspiration. Largely due to the committment of the actors, the end result was amazing and one of my proudest accomplishments. But I never thought I could do it until I did it. Sound design has profoundly shaped what kind of composer I am, in ways both practical and artistic. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>You seem to very much be experimenting around with certain styles and textures on this album, particularly with the "sampled" phonate sounds on "Beautiful Criminal". To what degree was this album "considered" and to what degree did playing around with different things ultimately shape your creative process?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">As I mentioned, I was consciously making an effort to incorporate some of the discoveries I had made when experimenting with sounds and music on professional projects. There were a few things that I knew I wanted to be on </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">. Some of them are hard to articulate, but I'll give an example. Often for a sound design, I'd find myself editing a sound just to the point where it's barely recognizable. I would do this with the intention of making the sound harder for the audience to define, but just enough of the sound is recognizable enough in order to get the imagination firing and generate some kind of emotional response. I read later that this was often a goal of Brian Eno's when he produced; to consciously mask the defining characteristics of an instrument with the intention that the listener will no longer be able to bring their preconceived ideas of what a trumpet or a guitar is to the listening experience. It's my belief that it engages the listener on a deeper level because it asks your imagination to work harder at attributing this sound to its source. When it works best, it significantly delays the time it takes for your brain to make sense of what it is you are hearing, which means that you spend more time reacting on a more primal, more emotional level. Of course, whether or not I achieve this in my own production is debatable, but that was certainly a goal that electronic music allowed me to persue. It makes it much easier to blur lines. For example, many of the textures and sounds on </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> are actually sampled guitar. Every song has guitar on it in some form or another, but more often than not, it's not recognizable as such. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Another method I used was to try to create a song using self-generated, but more-or-less random sounds. <a href="http://www.motorcyclesareeverywhere.org/">If you go to my website</a> and check out the splash page, there's one of six images or so that will come up. These were made in a similar sort of fashion. I used a very basic drawing program, and made some kind of picture very quickly with random movements in less than a minute. That became the starting point, much as I would write a few short riffs very quickly and record them. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The next step was throwing the picture into Photoshop and then spending a lot of time tweaking it until something interesting happened. For many of the songs in </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">, I used self-generated samples that were improvised very quickly, then reshaped and edited many times over until a real song began to emerge. Much as I have many MAE logos that weren't successful and are not to be found on my website, I also have many songs that didn't work out because the samples I was using didn't lead anywhere. The songs that were successful became the basis for </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;">. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>Within two weeks of its release, MAE has already been blogged about in places as far as Quebec and Hungary. Has the response to the album surprised you at all?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The response has certainly surprised me. The only goal I had when I started </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>1983</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> was to finish it. Now that it's done, I definitely want people to hear it, but even if it never reaches more than a thousand pairs of ears, I'd still be content to have finished a full-length album that I am proud of. But I keep finding little posts on the internet here and there (when I am unapologetically Googling Motorcycles Are Everywhere) -- evidence that a few people liked it enough to want their friends to hear it. Those sorts of word-of-mouth endorsements are very satisfying to me. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the album release has been where it's ended up. Malaysia, Poland, Brazil -- all over the place within the span of a week. Never have I so directly experienced that the internet has completely changed the way information is exchanged. I am in awe of it. </span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b>>>Finally, so far in your career, what has been your biggest regret, and -- conversely -- what's been your proudest accomplishment?</b></span><br /></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Sometimes I wish I took more time to enjoy the fact that I was getting paid to sound design. Trying to make ends meet in the world of professional theater can be very challenging. With that can come a lot of frustration and the feeling that you're allowing yourself to be taken advantage of. You work very hard for the minimum of compensation. But the people that thrive in theater are those that love it so much, that it doesn't matter. And eventually, you start to be paid what you are worth. Before that happens, however, you have to endure what seems to be an endless amount of time stuck in a dark room for twelve hours at a stretch, going over the same moment over and over again until it is art. It can be painful, and it often took its toll on my attitude. Those are the moments I wished that I had sat back, taken in a breath, and reminded myself that I was getting payed to play. </span><br /></p> <span style=";font-family:Helvetica;font-size:100%;" >My proudest accomplishment is that I have been able to sustain a career as an independent contractor. It can be very stressful to not have job security (or health insurance) and there were many times I had to send in the rent check a few days late. What kept me from giving up and getting a real job was an unshakable determination to remain free. I had to sleep in closet-sized rooms or on couches, and I never had much money, but I didn't have to do work I hated or have a boss stand over me. I don't think I can truly express how important it is to believe in what I am doing and to have the freedom to decide what my daily schedule is going to be. Sound design was able to give me this, and I will be forever grateful.</span>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-29323749624984630192009-08-27T00:20:00.003-05:002009-08-27T00:26:19.358-05:00OFF THE RECORDS: (S)milestones<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtzqURYQUWerfAFIlWeCV3KZCduLOEDChwAY2EyamlPtG-caro-UgVjnx5MQGRY3XafbqAVYvdRzaT978WHLDeOnRKnOKPBXdmcVxIYERr7jd7Cs0toATBWM3z2hGLJXHez199aUbtKcO/s1600-h/Off+the+Records+7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtzqURYQUWerfAFIlWeCV3KZCduLOEDChwAY2EyamlPtG-caro-UgVjnx5MQGRY3XafbqAVYvdRzaT978WHLDeOnRKnOKPBXdmcVxIYERr7jd7Cs0toATBWM3z2hGLJXHez199aUbtKcO/s400/Off+the+Records+7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374509365442150914" border="0" /></a><br />Hello there, loyal Globecat fans!<br /><br />There are several wonderful things to celebrate, so let's just get it out there. First off, our humble little blog has now crossed the 10,000 hit mark, which is nothing short of incredible and worthy of mention. It's through your constant support that this has been possible, and for everyone who links us on a blog, Tweets our latest endeavor, or links a quote to an artist's Wikipedia page, we are nothing short of grateful. GC does very little self-promotion: people often stumble upon our site and champion the material, and it's for that we want to thank you.<br /><br />Secondly, Globecat is taking a short break, but for good reason: co-founder <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan "Evcat" Sawdey</span> has recently been promoted to full-on Interviews Editor at PopMatters.com. The first few weeks are invariably going to be the craziest, simply because his inbox is filled with hundreds of e-mails from dozens of publicists, so GC will take a short vacation until things settle down.<br /><br />There are wonderful things on the horizon for GC, including a very special project involving several artists that can be considered "Globecat alumni" -- it's going to be a thing to behold ...<br /><br />Remember to send you ideas and suggestions to <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">globecatmusic [at] gmail [dot] com</span></span>, and we will be back with you shortly!<br /><br />Thanks!<br />--GCGlobecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-84118273189378963282009-08-20T01:00:00.000-05:002009-08-20T01:00:01.430-05:00ALEATORY #25: Lands & Peoples<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtmAjGTf6PmlB2GPAWDqWXfKQ7c3BJeiu-a9aRzfo8avpa2EucE0uerz_yRFfq8ORWNAz6pVSfkCUeLz7MGgzEy023KNfZlGwJbj63gY6PRGdL-qsSq5KxaoKApDl79WMWaFT93gfKdKb/s1600-h/landsand.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtmAjGTf6PmlB2GPAWDqWXfKQ7c3BJeiu-a9aRzfo8avpa2EucE0uerz_yRFfq8ORWNAz6pVSfkCUeLz7MGgzEy023KNfZlGwJbj63gY6PRGdL-qsSq5KxaoKApDl79WMWaFT93gfKdKb/s400/landsand.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371854890877389170" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lands & Peoples</span> are downright scary.<br /><br />No, they're not going to scare away children during Halloween, but in listening to the debut release by this trio -- consisting of<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">multi-instrumentalists Caleb Moore</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amanda Willis</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Beau Cole</span> -- it is damn-near frightening how fully formed the band sounds on just their first EP. Though it's easy to spot the group's influences, it proves rather difficult to pin down the Lands & Peoples "sound". Emotional without being self-indulgent, this is lo-fi indie rock with a distinct modern twist, beautifully textured but never once coming across as overlabored (check out <a href="http://www.myspace.com/landsandpeoples">their MySpace</a> to hear what makes them so unique). With their eponymous EP just out and a full-length album due shortly, there is no better time than to hit up the band with one of Globecat's trademark <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html">Aleatories</a> (and if that isn't enough, Lands & Peoples have the distinction of being our 25th). Without further ado, Lands & Peoples ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Favorite word?</span><br /><br />January.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Favorite board game?</span><br /><br />Monopoly (Amanda=Car, Beau=Boot, Caleb=Thimble)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Favorite key to write in?</span><br /><br />Probably A minor, or G.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Favorite person to have worked with?</span><br /><br />The Secret Mountains, we just finished the first leg of our tour with them ... sooooooo much fun!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Favorite piece of equipment?</span><br /><br />Fender Prosonic coupled with an Electro-Harmonix Reverb Pedal, woohoo!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Favorite visual artist?/Favorite work of visual art?</span><br /><br />Tie between Gustav Klimt and Nicholas Gurewitch (of <a href="http://pbfcomics.com/">PBF comics</a>).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Favorite pick-up line?</span><br /><br />"Is your father a lumberjack? No? Oh ... OK ... um ... well ... 'wood' you go out with me?"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">28. What instrument would you most like to learn to play?</span><br /><br />Upright Bass, we all agree.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">31. Other than musician, what career would you most enjoy?</span><br /><br />Caleb: Record company scout or producer.<br />Amanda: Chef.<br />Beau: Actor, wait is that stupid, uh, Chef, that was a good answer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">32. Best thing you learned this week/month?</span><br /><br />Tours are fun and hard and bathing in a lake, while fun, isn't ACTUALLY that clean. Also iPhones are REAL helpful.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">42. What's an image that haunts you to this day?</span><br /><br />That scene in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Shining</span> where the hot woman turns into the old lady, OH MY GOD that scene is creepy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">45. What's the best lie you've ever told?</span><br /><br />We've never been good at lying.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">56. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists?</span><br /><br />Yes. Baltimore's a place that allows all types of artists to collaborate in the craziest of ways ... and there are so many artists, not just musicians, that we LOVE in Baltimore, so I think if the opportunity ever came up, we [would] jump on it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">58. Least rock star thing you've ever done?</span><br /><br />Watching <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> with Caleb's mom.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">72. A few years ago, Beck gave an interview for SPIN in which he lamented the glut of reality TV shows and blogs about musicians, wanting to know less details about their life because he felt they were more mysterious that way (he liked to envision Devo as living in a crazed art-deco pyramid when he was young, instead of just some guys in a tour bus). Do you feel that there's a lack of mystique out there for musicians in today's YouTube age? Do you feel your band carries any mystique?</span><br /><br />These days, it is possible to be in complete, honest, and direct communication with people who listen to your music and pay attention to that sort of thing. But, at the same time, you don't have to, you don't have to answer every interview, you don't have to have a blog, or be on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc. I think that a band can use those things as tools to communicate whatever, even outright lie if they want, manifest their own "mystique." But I don't think anyone can deny that "the Internet" with all it's sites and blogs and viral explosions has given SO many artists exposure that they otherwise would never have gotten, that's the important thing ... and it's a good thing, for the most part.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">74. Better to burn out or to fade away?</span><br /><br />Burn Out.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">76. Dream collaboration?</span><br /><br />Working with Beach House, co-produced by Chris Taylor and Jon Brion.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">77. What was the hardest part about recording your current release?</span><br /><br />Well, we recorded and mixed everything by ourselves in our homes. Knowing you're not a professional yet wanting it to be perfect ... letting stuff go was really hard.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">89. You just died. I'm sorry. Fortunately, your will states that you want very specific music to be played at your funeral. What did you choose?</span><br /><br />1) Will Smith--Gettin' Jiggy With It<br />2) Men Without Hats--Safety Dance<br />3) Weird Al--Fat<br />4) Biggy--Big Poppa<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">90. Sexiest thing about you?</span><br /><br />Amanda: "My big heart."<br />Beau & Caleb about Amanda: "Her legs."<br />Caleb: "My large nostrils."<br />Beau: "My unibrow."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.landsandpeoples.com/">Visit Lands & People's official website here</a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-25850431023175275642009-08-13T01:01:00.007-05:002009-08-13T18:09:18.456-05:00INTERVIEW: Chad VanGaalen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwcOKQDar8a2vUv6g9HGDUgjrI_S3v8cDznl3wO19tQss8R8R3qTU_2LQfqKU9qD1NbT3gtUhW2ahVnhQeb5RYjJOH9OP_cSQGON5jLBTAsXn5ddqOYcFyxkWu0-5IDiRDAvA7J2FEqNg/s1600-h/cvginty.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwcOKQDar8a2vUv6g9HGDUgjrI_S3v8cDznl3wO19tQss8R8R3qTU_2LQfqKU9qD1NbT3gtUhW2ahVnhQeb5RYjJOH9OP_cSQGON5jLBTAsXn5ddqOYcFyxkWu0-5IDiRDAvA7J2FEqNg/s400/cvginty.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369328513430026914" border="0" /></a><br />By day, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Chad VanGaalen</span> is your everyday, quasi-experimental songwriter with two presitgious Polaris Prize nominations under his belt and a rapidly expanding cult fanbase. By night, he dons a cape, a drum machine, and then becomes the infamous ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Mold</span><span style="font-style: italic;">!!!</span><br /><br />Well, not really, but VanGaalen -- following his critically acclaimed third album <span style="font-style: italic;">Soft Airplane</span> (2008, Flemish Eye) -- has decided to open his world to include a side-project called Black Mold, a largely experimental affair that includes everything from faux-classical compositions to drum-n-bass electronic numbers, as well as everything inbetween. It's a remarkable change of pace for the prolific songwriter and animator, but for those who had been listening all the way back to his first album <span style="font-style: italic;">Infiniheart</span>, you got the sense that something like Black Mold was coming, and Mold's debut album (<a href="http://www.flemisheye.com/albums/019-snow-blindness-is-crystal-antz"><span style="font-style: italic;">Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz</span></a>) has songs that were culled from over 50 mini-albums that VanGaalen has been working on from time to time. Sitting down with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span>, VanGaalen reveals that he's amazed he got away with the fidelity of recording his first album, is now gearing himself up to submit pieces to film festivals, and in the biggest shocker of them all, reveals that -- in fact -- he's not that big a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Well first off we wanted to congratulate you on scoring your second Polaris Prize nomination.</span><br /><br />Right on, thanks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You’ve done two records prior to this, but it appears that <span style="font-style: italic;">Soft Airplane</span> just brought you up to a whole new level of notoriety. Has the response to this record surprised you at all?</span><br /><br />Um … a little bit, yeah. I’d say so. This is the first record I put out that I really 100% behind. It’s a record that I would probably listen to if I were … forced to listen to it. The other two were just OK, but this one -- yeah, it definitely had a good response.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I actually first heard about you during one of those Laundromat sessions where you play “Molten Light”, and then an ambulance goes by and adds to the ambience of that. Of course, we’re here talking about the Black Mold project, and the first question that comes to mind is simple: why isn’t this a Chad VanGaalen record? </span><br /><br />There’s no vocals on it for one thing. The second thing is, well, well see what happens with it but I don’t really have any drive to play any of these songs and recreate them. I guess there’s also having the [chance] to experiment and to put out whatever I want on a Black Mold record -- it doesn’t have to have any rhyme or reason. I mean, <span style="font-style: italic;">Skelliconnection</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Infiniheart</span> [both] have Black Mold-ish types of songs, instrumentals or dance music -- [they] didn’t really do much for the record, so they always felt sort of out of place, but with the Black Mold stuff I can just do whatever I want and just kind of have an outlet to put it out to the world. Those songs just never really had a place.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So you did write stuff specifically for this project then, so it’s not just a series of instrumental oddities that were just lying around.</span><br /><br />No, I mean yeah: this stuff was strictly meant to come out on a Black Mold record.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Obviously, the Black Mold stuff is kind of all over the place, ranging from dance music to stuff more jazzy in nature, but I would argue “<a href="http://www.flemisheye.com/content/music/FLCR019/BlackMold-MetalSpiderWebs.mp3">Metal Spider Webs</a>” was the most idiosyncratic song you’ve done, as it loops a simple, solemn cello line over and over again. It’s almost as if you’re exploring darker musical territory than what we’ve seen previously in a Chad VanGaalen record. Can we expect some sort of thematic arc to Black Mold?</span><br /><br />As I was explaining before, with the Black Mold stuff, those songs are taken from about 50 or so different records. “Metal Spider Webs” and “Barn Swallow” were taken from a record of sort of more classically bent instrumental pieces that were maybe a little bit more orchestrated, and then “Dr. Snouth” was taken from a series of songs that I wrote for the original <span style="font-style: italic;">Solaris</span> Tarkovsky Russian sci-fi film. The first Black Mold record is maybe an introduction to a whole bunch of other records.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">When you say “first Black Mold record”, are you implying that you’ll use this as an outlet later on?</span><br /><br />When this record comes out, anyone who buys this will get a download code for a hundred bonus songs that’ll be grouped into sort of little mini-records that will maybe get people like “Oh OK, I get it!”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jumping back o</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">n a point you said just a bit ago about your albums having instrumentals on there -- as well as your work on that Tchaikovsky piece -- well, have you conside</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_avsHzI2QnrK4x9xRVOzR3IHIYcJ8aqqMfD0iZKn3X7PuTHjtkYeoDmKkwpMGGfybbPJZoesk7sDf6jBGwApHBpzm0QpARUhIo29Jo6G4J2d8w0_yv6C39JYTRK2Hux4TraUkLydZMxQw/s1600-h/chadvg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_avsHzI2QnrK4x9xRVOzR3IHIYcJ8aqqMfD0iZKn3X7PuTHjtkYeoDmKkwpMGGfybbPJZoesk7sDf6jBGwApHBpzm0QpARUhIo29Jo6G4J2d8w0_yv6C39JYTRK2Hux4TraUkLydZMxQw/s400/chadvg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369328192010114834" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">red scoring movies or things of that nature?</span><br /><br />Yeah, I mean just as far as people asking me to do it and having the time to do it. Black Mold is going to come out with three animated pieces that will accompany it, and this one track called “Bald Static” that’s 17 minutes long that didn’t make the record (just ‘cos it’s too long) that’ll have an animate short along with it, so there’ll be 25 minutes worth of animation that comes with the Black Mold record.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So in terms of outsi</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">de film work, you’re just waiting for that phone call?</span><br /><br />Yeah, and also just [having] the time to do it. It hangs on what I’m working on at the moment too, ‘cos I’m trying to prepare more animated shorts that I can enter into film festivals -- and that takes up a lot of time, right?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Just a bit yeah -- now you’ll be Chad VanGaalen, King of All Media!</span><br /><br />[<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs</span>.]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Just a few quick questions here. First off: when was the last time you listened to <span style="font-style: italic;">Infiniheart</span>?</span><br /><br />Oh … I don’t know. A long time ago? Years probably?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I always am curious because as one changes and evolves as an artist, it’s always interesting to go back and here where your mindset was at the beginning. What came to mind when you last heard your debut?</span><br /><br />Just fidelity. I can’t believe that the fidelity of that record is pretty insane. I know I got pinned as “lo-fi” but I’m very much trying to get past that. When I hear to that record, I think “man I can’t believe I got away with recording that.” An entire drum kit with one mic that I got for free or from a pawn shop -- which can be quirky, but at the same time I wasn’t really … I was trying to work in stereo, and I hadn’t had a lot of success working in stereo, but I’ve learned a few tricks since then …<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who is your favorite Ninja Turtle and why?</span><br /><br />Oh man! I’m not quite the huge Ninja Turtle fan -- I never really was. I’d have to say … whoever the dude with the nunchaku was. I’m pretty sure it was Michelangelo.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Well we got one last question for ya: so far in your career, what’s been your biggest regret, and -- conversely -- what’s been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br /><br />My biggest regret … my ability to focus on one thing. As far as touring and presenting myself, it’s a little bit underdeveloped. My skills as a live musician were always sort of lacking and I never really thought it was a necessary thing, ‘cos I was always coming at it from a music-lovers point of view: I just listened to records. Now I’m beginning to appreciate [how to] rock out. My regret is that I didn’t put as much into that career-wise.<br /><br />My proudest moment? I don’t even know. I don’t have much to pride myself with. I don’t know, maybe just the people that you meet along the way. I’m pretty proud of the fact that I’ve never really had a “weird moment” as far as being in the entertainment industry. I think it’s a pretty weird industry: a lot of horror stories, and I’m proud of the fact that I’ve never really had to deal with weirdos or people trying to fuck me over or anything like that. For the most part, it’s just been good people that have gravitated towards [my work]. People like Ian at Flemish Eye and Sub Pop -- it just came around at a great time and both labels have treated me awesome and I’ve never had any problems. I mean you hear nightmare stories of “Oh they gave me a $50,000 advance and now we gotta tour ‘til 2030 …” [<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs</span>.]<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/blackmoldmusic"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit Black Mold's MySpace <span style="font-style: italic;">here</span></span></a>.<br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/chadvangaalen"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit Chad VanGaalen's MySpace here</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-78296215268807813402009-07-30T01:00:00.001-05:002009-07-31T17:15:19.020-05:00INTERVIEW: Chris Milk<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3EU_vmT9nDZtJ6S6_IvnpT0Ou6bc-mvZ4KrUewCRZzrri3148cfs8iRqpCkO_KrjYaxtJGuBgImM3XpiIHtKV_mHG3cdmoTulYQ_i-1bIpq_AZnhOYMVVJYO72ifrJKUwJcdnI7caZG1/s1600-h/Chris+Milk+Inty.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3EU_vmT9nDZtJ6S6_IvnpT0Ou6bc-mvZ4KrUewCRZzrri3148cfs8iRqpCkO_KrjYaxtJGuBgImM3XpiIHtKV_mHG3cdmoTulYQ_i-1bIpq_AZnhOYMVVJYO72ifrJKUwJcdnI7caZG1/s400/Chris+Milk+Inty.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364101329592688178" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chris Milk<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span>is one very lucky fellow. He's also a very talented one as well.<br /><br />Milk, in a very short amount of time, has gradually become one of the leading music video artists of our time, starting out big by directing Kanye West's breathtakingly powerful clip for "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFKPd_TRVC8">Jesus Walks</a>" and then moving on to work on clips from everyone to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE-ML-BAAfY">Modest Mouse</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVenYGkK_sQ">Courtney Love</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZP0ifrTcoM">Green Day & U2's one-off collaboration</a> to the most abstract, heart-ripping (literally) clip for Gnarls Barkley's "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhxK2IOywVE">Who's Gonna Save My Soul?</a>". Like Jonathan Glazer and <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/07/aleatory-7-mark-romanek.html">Mark Romanek</a> before him, there isn't a "trademark" to Milk's vision: just nothing but high-quality work that reflects the needs of the song, not the record label. Alternately funny and dramatic, touching and exciting, Milk -- sitting down with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> in an interview that has taken close to year to happen -- finally spills on the inspiration behind some of his classic clips, how he used to pretend to be an industry client just to get copies of his favorite promo clips, and wishes to one day have people ascribe meaning to music videos in the same way they do their favorite songs ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>First thing is first: Gnarls Barkley's "Who's Gonna Save My Soul". I must say, this clip seems to be a tipping point for you, as it melds both your surrealistic comic sensibilities with the gritty, emotional gravitas that fills up your videography. What was your inspiration, and -- ultimately -- what do you hope people take out of this?</span><br /><br />Thanks for saying that. It stems mostly out of the personal experiences I’ve had in relationships. I’m more drawn to these sort of stories and would love to tell them more often. Dark, comedic, surreal, this is the type of material I respond to in features, and it’s the kind of music videos I love to write. I’ve actually written a lot more of these but they’ve never been produced. Some of my favorite Kanye videos are sitting in a notebook and will never happen. This Gnarls video I’ve pitched to 3 or 4 bands over the years. I’m actually glad they all said no because I think it was predestined to happen with this song. The emotion and musical tonality line up too perfectly. It had to be this track. As far as the “take away” I don’t really like to think in those terms. All I can do is make something I personally find compelling, put it out there, and maybe it works for other people. I’ve certainly had occasions when it hasn’t worked for anyone. My ex-girlfriend for instance did not care for this Gnarls video at all.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>When a video director breaks big into the market, it often feels that they go from being popular to damn near ubiquitious overnight, taking on any and all comers, spreading themselves creatively thin in the process (Mark Webb immediately comes to mind). Yet you have been very selective in both your commercials and videos -- what, ultimately, draws you in to working with a particular artist? How has your creative process changed over time?</span><br /><br />What’s funny is that when I was trying to get my first video I wrote on any track they would send me. I wrote on some of the most embarrassing music you can think of. None of them would give me a video. I used to write constantly every week, never went out on the weekend, just sat home and struggled to come up with concepts to music I didn’t like. It was over a year and a half of this before I got my first video. By dumb luck and the good graces of God it was for a band that I loved, the Chemical Brothers. Kanye West saw that video and was determined that I do his first video with a budget off his first album. When Kanye broke big I did in a way as well. That was my third video. I had the luxury that most videos directors don’t get of getting to be choosy early.<br /><br />I decided a while ago though I had little desire to be prolific. I would much rather do a small body of work that I’m proud of than be the guy who does thousands of music videos and works with every artist. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I respect it, it’s just not me. I can’t work that way. I do one project at a time, and obsess over it until it’s finished. I live small. I drive a 96 Volvo turbo wagon. I have very little overhead. I don’t have kids in private school or a Ferrari payment. I can do the few projects I’m really interested in a year, and still be fine.<br /><br />The artists I’m drawn to are the ones that value music videos as a viable art form in its own right. We are creating something new together. Yes it has the song, but ultimately it’s creatively a new work. Sometimes there are artists that I love, but I just can’t figure out a visual component for the song. So I end up turning it down. Those kill me.<br /><br />And by the way, I think Mark Webb is really talented. It’s not easy to be consistent with work spanning such a wide range of artists, and I think he has been. Plus his movie is top notch.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>What videos/directors do you draw inspiration from?</span><br /><br />When I was in film school I used to call DP agents pretending I was a potential client to get 3/4 video copies of the clips I was obsessed with. Most of them were by Mark Romanek, David Fincher, or Spike Jonze.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Much has been made of your multiple collaborations with Kanye, and -- of course -- there's the fact that he made three different versions of his "Jesus Walks" video, though yours, ultimately, is considered the definitive version. Is it strange to see multiple versions of clips like that floating around -- does it somehow detract from the ownership of your work? (I feel this question particularly interesting for video directors, as we very much live in the age of YouTube/viral media now)</span><br /><br />Not really. The "Jesus Walks" saga is a long one that I won’t recount here. But I’ll tell you that Kanye’s intention was never to have all three videos released.<br /><br />Seeing someone else’s interpretation of a video you had in your head happens all the time. Usually though you lost the job to someone else. Personally I find it fascinating to see someone else’s interpretation. You can get so locked inside your own head with an idea that it’s refreshing to see another angle on it. The more the merrier.<br /><br />I have a sort of fundamental philosophical problem with music videos though. I’m actually not a big fan of the finite nature of them, like “this is the ultimate definitive sequence of images to accompany this song. There shall be no others”. I think one reason raw music at its core is so powerful is because it intertwines with people and their lives. They sing along to it in the car, it emotionally scores that one summer they had, it allows an interaction and an involvement on the part of the listener. They can make it their own.<br /><br />Music videos don’t have that. It’s always “here’s the video, shut up, watch it, now go about your life”. I would like to find a way that people can invest in a music video the way they invest in a song. We’ll see though, I’m working on some ideas.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Finally, so far in your career, what's been your biggest regret, and -- conversely -- what's been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br /><br />Biggest regret is working hard on a music video for 4 months, that by my own rules I shouldn’t have been doing in the first place, nearly perishing in the process, only to have the record company re-edit and animate over the whole thing, then ban me from the label for taking my name off it.<br /><br />Proudest accomplishment, really I just feel incredibly lucky that I get to make music videos for a living. Five years ago my goal was to just do one before I died.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.chrismilk.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit Chris Milk's website</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-11031728246251771732009-07-23T01:00:00.000-05:002009-07-23T01:00:03.428-05:00INTERVIEW: The Kronos Quartet [Part II]<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfM8CzRB-ZjZePNKXoVzkcLo9gZZ_G6zgEISiAX1W3eW0wbM57G-EvCopxuP_xOws2XvbgTJOI4OwFt1pycCNxzijXR2wK-Uia3KnlOAUUeU8Po6U8VJEzNTvWgypMMl7pcmA7m1PhBKa/s1600-h/kronos2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfM8CzRB-ZjZePNKXoVzkcLo9gZZ_G6zgEISiAX1W3eW0wbM57G-EvCopxuP_xOws2XvbgTJOI4OwFt1pycCNxzijXR2wK-Uia3KnlOAUUeU8Po6U8VJEzNTvWgypMMl7pcmA7m1PhBKa/s400/kronos2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361513750704024082" border="0" /></a><br />On <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-kronos-quartet-part-i.html">Part I</a> of our amazing discussion with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kronos Quartet</span> founder/violinist <span style="font-weight: bold;">David Harrington</span>, we discussed a lot of what went into making <span style="font-style: italic;">Floodplain</span>, their latest, transglobal masterpiece. In Part II, Harrington discusses the unusual challenges in covering Blind Willy Johnson (and the group's incredible solution), what the Kronos Quartet's "definitive" lineup was, and reflecting on his own personal accomplishments in his three decade plus career ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /><br /></div> <span style="font-weight: bold;">I think some of that is leant to the fact that being in the web/digital era, so many artists now have an avenue of exposure that they would never, ever have had before. I was listening to this Honest Jon’s compilation awhile back that featured music taken directly out of Baghdad in the 1920’s …</span><br /><br />I’ve heard that record.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Yeah, and I was completely overwhelmed by the sadness contained in those songs. The only thing I found more fascinating is that about ten years ago, an album like this would have never had a chance even in a niche marketplace, but now we’re in an age where a physical and digital release is easily, easily doable and it has the chance to reach listeners in ways that no one would have previously thought possible.</span><br /><br />Right! And that’s what albums can do now: they can celebrate these possibilities. The idea for Floodplain germinated right around the time of the invasion of Iraq by the Bush Administration. Basically, I decided early -- probably in March of 2003 -- that I was going to try to learn more about Iraqi music. Later as the “Axis of Evil” got defined (and that would include Iranian music), pretty soon this lead to the realization that there’s entire worlds of music that I had no idea about. A lot of our albums have something to do with sharing discoveries -- in fact, most of them do. [<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs.</span>] So for me, this process involved a lot of listening and the thrill of finding something that you really love that you hadn’t heard before that you wanted to play. That’s a part of this album.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">With your <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Was the Night</span> compilation and your Blind Willy Johnson cover -- plain and simply: why Blind Willy Johnson?</span><br /><br />Well here’s how that happened: I was on the phone with Bryce Dessner and we were talking over a couple concerts that we were going to be playing at his festival in Cincinnati (MusicNow). We were talking over things, and then he said “You know, we’re right at the final stages of this Red Hot compilation -- you wouldn’t happen to have anything that you’ve never recorded that you’d really like to record?” I said “Oh yeah, definitely.” He said “What is it?” I said “’Dark Was the Night’ by Blind Willy Johnson.” There was this kind of silence over the phone. [<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs.</span>] A few seconds later he said “I can’t believe it. We’ve been talking about having that song on the album and this would be perfect.” Well our sound engineer Scott Fraser had this idea for me -- and we’ve played the piece on and off for a few years -- and in concert it just didn’t quite come off as vividly as we wanted, mainly ‘cos of my part. It had to do with the sound coming from a bottleneck violin. Scott suggested I put guitar strings on my violin.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That’s what gives it that sound.</span><br /><br />Yeah, that’s how that sound came about. A suggestion from Scott Fraser, who co-produced Floodplain and You’ve Stolen My Heart. He’s one of our sound engineers for concerts as well; we go way back with Scott. He’s really an amazing musician. When Scott had mentioned that, I knew that that was the solution, so I really wanted to record the piece that way. We had been talking about recording it, and to me it’s one of the mythic American pieces, right at the center of our entire musical history in a certain way. Anyways, that’s how that happened. Then we were on tour early in September [2008] and we recorded it and a week or so later Scott & I mixed it and we got it to Bryce and after that they decided to call the release <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Was the Night</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One of those “happy coincidences.”</span><br /><br />Yeah, totally! [<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs.</span>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I have kind of a personal question for you. You’ve obviously been there during the Kronos Quartet’s inception ‘lo those many years ago. You had a solid lineup for awhile, and only in the past decade have you had a couple of changes. Just out of curiosity: is there ever a “definitive” lineup of the Kronos Quartet in your mind?</span><br /><br />Oh I think the definitive lineup is the current one. But, it’s always been that way! I mean, Joan Jeanrenaud was with us for 20 years, and that always felt definitive. Now Jeff [Zeigler] is here and that feels definitive to me, and a lot of it has to do with the material that’s being written and that we’re playing and exploring. We had just come from Australia where we put together this incredible piece using instruments devised and invented by Jon Rose, and they’re musical fences, and together with Jon we created this theatre piece that closed our concert at Sydney Opera House, and it kind of lifted things to a new place in our music, and for me, that’s definitive.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Finally, so far in your career, what’s been your biggest regret, and -- conversely -- what’s been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br /><br />Well, are you talking about professional regrets or personal regrets?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">You can interpret it however you wish.</span><br /><br />Well when I think of regrets, the first thing that comes to mind is the death of my son. And there’s nothing else that even compares to that in terms of sadness or influence on my life or anything -- so that would be that. In terms of accomplishment, I think I’d have to say keeping my family together in spite of that tragedy and also then becoming a grandparent shortly before Bush, Cheney & Rumsfeld started this damn war. The incredible joyousness of being a grandparent -- it’s something I’d highly advise buy only if I was asked. [<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs.</span>] Because it’s a very personal topic. All I can say is I now have two grandkids and I get so much energy from them: it’s just … the sense of wonder and idealism and the desire to explore has for me invigorated my life so much.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.kronosquartet.org/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit the Kronos Quartet's official website</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-82709250237988523622009-07-16T01:00:00.001-05:002009-07-23T08:28:06.850-05:00INTERVIEW: The Kronos Quartet [Part I]<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLYZnG5LGVw8CXMpUVmxSgTTXHVFYlXC19h04sRo1MbqA9nP5pxcYSJ2Ay81jCa6R3Jv3VscXlfI2TTJxZJN4yOubUYpAkCzp6tbbTrq29Zw-o4ocqcGCAKIJR5Vi86XuGi1grU2RzCEu/s1600-h/Kronos1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLYZnG5LGVw8CXMpUVmxSgTTXHVFYlXC19h04sRo1MbqA9nP5pxcYSJ2Ay81jCa6R3Jv3VscXlfI2TTJxZJN4yOubUYpAkCzp6tbbTrq29Zw-o4ocqcGCAKIJR5Vi86XuGi1grU2RzCEu/s400/Kronos1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358903018381646418" border="0" /></a><br />It's virtually impossible to summarzie the work of <span style="font-weight: bold;">the Kronos Quartet</span> into a single paragraph -- but we're gonna try anyways.<br /><br />Formed in 1973 by violinist <span style="font-weight: bold;">David Harrington</span>, the Kronos Quartet has gone on to become one of the most widely-recognized classical groups on the planet, winning a Grammy in 2004 for the Alban Berg album <span style="font-style: italic;">Lyric Suite</span>, working with everyone from Philip Glass to Terry Riley to Steve Reich on specific pieces while also having works written specifically for the Quartet to perform. They've even gained extensive clout in the indie-rock community as well, having worked on the soundtracks to films like <span style="font-style: italic;">Requiem for a Dream</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Fountain</span>, covering Nine Inch Nails one second while contributing the title track to the double-disc Red Hot <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Was the Night</span> compilation the next. This group has yet to meet a challenge they haven't conquered, and it's for this very reason that the Kronos Quartet remain peerless in the avant-classical realm.<br /><br />Speaking with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span>, David Harrington was more than happy to talk about the group's latest disc <span style="font-style: italic;">Floodplain</span> (a transglobal album that tackles songs both forgotten and new -- some even written specifically for this release), their encounters with musical fences, meeting puppeteers in Bali, and learning how to craft the perfect Blind Willy Johnson cover. This interview was so extensive, we've had to divide it into two parts [you can read Part II <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-kronos-quartet-part-ii.html">right here</a>]. So, without further ado, the inimitable Kronos Quartet ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So how are you doing?</span><br /><br />Oh I’m fine.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Just about ready to go on tour, I hear.</span><br /><br />Yeah we are leaving on Friday for Europe.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excited?</span><br /><br />Oh yeah: looking forward to it. Got a lot of cool stuff to play.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Understandably! Which actually leads me to my first question: this year has been extraordinary for you guys, ranging from contributing the title track to the Red Hot <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Was the Night</span> compilation to releasing your own full-length disc <span style="font-style: italic;">Floodplain</span>. Given that you guys have essentially released an album a year like clockwork since 1985, do you ever see yourself slowing down at all and giving yourself a breather?</span><br /><br />You know, breaks are not on the calendar here. [<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs.</span>] It’s not something I’m really that interested in. I mean, for me, my battery gets charged by music and by hearing wonderful new pieces and composers and instruments -- that’s what I need to do: just keep charged.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">When you go on tours like that, do you often go out to try and listen to the music of the places you’re visiting as well or is it usually performing strictly Kronos-type material?</span><br /><br />Well, most often we’re pretty involved in the getting to and from our shows and sound checks and things, but generally what’s happened in the last 36 years is that I have meetings with musicians from wherever we are and people hand me a lot of recordings and scores and stuff: it’s one way I’m able to stay in touch with what’s happening in different places. We just got back from Bali a couple weeks ago. We had a week there -- and that’s kind of unusual for us to stay in a location that long -- and it was fantastic, ‘cos not only did we get to hear some amazing music, but we also got to meet the Master Puppeteer from Bali, and he gave us a private performance. He’s retired now, but he sort of came out of retirement …<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But an actual puppeteer is what you’re saying?</span><br /><br />Yeah. His name is Mister Sitia and he’s generally acknowledged as the greatest of the Balanese puppeteers and he’s in his late 70s right now. His eyesight is kind of going and his body has been worked hard for many, many years. He did a dance performance with us -- his son and grandkids did the music. It was kind of like seeing Shakespeare in Hamlet or Beethoven doing one of his last sonatas. On the order of artistic experiences that I’ve never had but have wanted to have: that was one of the high points of anything I could possibly imagine. That just doesn’t happen that often.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Let’s just jump real quick to </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Floodplain</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">. I get this sense that you’re always pushing the Quartet into new sounds and new directions, whether it be getting sampled by Faith No More on their Angel Dust album to performing with Nelly Furtado to Nine Inch Nails to Mogwai, all while still working with the likes of Terry Riley on top of that. In listening to the new album, one of the songs that immediately jumped out was “Tashweesh”, a collaboration you did with the electronic group Ramallah Underground. What was the germination for this particular piece?</span><br /><br />Well I first heard Ramallah Underground on MySpace. It would’ve been two and a half years ago since I first heard them. I was just kind of looking around on MySpace for some wonderful music. I don’t even know how I found them, but for me I was just hearing a sound and an approach that was distinctive; I’ve never heard anything quite like that, and I really, really like their music. So I got in touch with them. I sent them a bunch of our recordings and they sent me a whole bunch of theirs; so we kind of began to exchange ideas. I mentioned this album idea that I had at that point, and asked them if they would like to write something for it. Basically, they wrote a whole lot of music and asked us to choose something, and what I chose was “Tashweesh”.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So that was a piece they had already done?</span><br /><br />No -- they wrote it especially for us and for the album. They wrote three or four pieces for the album, and we chose that one.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One of the more striking moments on the new album I found was “Ya Habibi Ta’ala” which I liked because it sounded both traditional and modern at the same time. It was very strictly tied in with its traditional Eastern roots but was also immediately accessible as well. Do you ever yourself trying to “contemporize” any of these pieces in order to more immediately grab the ears of Western listeners who may not otherwise get a chance to hear these sounds?</span><br /><br />Well that’s not something that comes into my thinking, really. For me it’s just finding something that magnetizes me and wanting to find a way to bring into our orbit or our world. So “Ya Habibi Ta’ala” -- I heard that on a recording of this very young great singer from Egypt from the 1940s. Azmahan was her name and she died tragically during the Second World War. She appeared in a few movies. This song just really attracted me and I thought “Wow, we’ve got to play this!” [Laughs.] So that’s pretty much what it was, and then I talked to my friend Osvaldo Golijov and played it for him and he made a version for us and then we kind of worked upon that, and “reorchestrated” or “retranslated” his version or whatever you might want to call it, and that became what you hear on the recording.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Floodplain travels a lot of distance in a short amount of time, ranging from the brutal piece “…hold me, neighbor, in this storm…” [by Aleksandra Vrebalov] to some more spritely numbers, but its ambition and immense worldview are never in question. Ultimately, what do you want a listener to take out of <span style="font-style: italic;">Floodplain</span> after listening to it straight through?</span><br /><br />You know, first of all the title of the album, I was trying to explain to my wife what I had in mind -- actually, almost exactly like what you’re asking. Like, what is it that we’re trying to communicate? I was mentioning that for me, the world of music right now is almost like this amazing river which is kind of overflowing with riches and with music. So the banks of the river are flooding. And then she said “Well the album has to be called Floodplain.” [<span style="font-style: italic;">Laughs.</span>] The idea that the traditional classification and little areas of the world of music are not connected -- for me that idea doesn’t work anymore. I feel connected to so many musicians and so many sounds and so many instruments and voices and I would like to share those connections with our audience. Just the vitality of being a part of the world of music right now is -- for me -- totally thrilling and very inspiring. I think that that is at the base of what I would like to try to communicate.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.kronosquartet.org/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit the Kronos Quartet's<span style="font-style: italic;"> official website</span></span></a>.<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(192, 192, 192);">Photo by Jay Blakesberg</span><br /></div>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-64327986388680946322009-07-09T01:00:00.000-05:002009-07-09T01:00:01.837-05:00INTERVIEW: Riceboy Sleeps<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7siqDec-h_8jfBIQF3KP89eFOwcuto1t_tjGbbI1WAnd6dgSlRjjCKTdcJFch6YDV515nNBZhICVEu01LPqNt3ORW4VN9qW7IPRL1sNVomJGo_pd1fgIrgmVz9cfmaxDsnj0ndkHZARQ/s1600-h/Riceboy+Inty.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7siqDec-h_8jfBIQF3KP89eFOwcuto1t_tjGbbI1WAnd6dgSlRjjCKTdcJFch6YDV515nNBZhICVEu01LPqNt3ORW4VN9qW7IPRL1sNVomJGo_pd1fgIrgmVz9cfmaxDsnj0ndkHZARQ/s400/Riceboy+Inty.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356126112076913202" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Riceboy Sleeps</span> is not your average side-project.<br /><br />Consisting of Alex Somers and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sigur Ros</span> lead singer Jón Þór Birgisson, the two have been working under the "Riceboy Sleeps" moniker for some time, but -- interestingly -- it was only recently that they've included music as part of this experience. Alex and Jón have been working in the visual arts for some time, so far having released two whole books of their pieces (a part of which can be seen on the graphic above). Occasionally recording under the name "Jónsi & Alex", it wasn't until early this year when Riceboy made their formal recording debut with the gorgeous 8-minute instrumental "Happiness" on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Was the Night</span> Red Hot charity compilation. Now, their debut album is due in Europe next week. When <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> spoke to Alex, he mentioned how much of this album was recorded on a solar-powered laptop, he doesn't like to classify what style of music the guys do, and we haven't even seen their recipe book yet ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Riceboy Sleeps appears to be an evolution for both of you, as it relies more on texture than melody, making a sharp contrast to both Sigur Ros and Parachutes respectively. How would you classify your own material: drone? Post-rock? Ambient?</span><br /><br />We have never classified our songs before. I guess we have never needed to do it... for me, the songs rely more on melody than texture. Even though these songs are slow and full of texture, without the melody it would all fall apart. Melody is always first for us.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>What made you decide to contribute to, much less make your debut with, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Was the Night</span> compliation?</span><br /><br />Our friend Bryce, from the band the National asked us if we would like to donate one song because he knew we were going to be releasing our album soon. We thought it was a good cause and we were happy to do it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Though both bands have recorded in various locations prior, what made you decided to record your record primarily in Hawaii?</span><br /><br />We actually recorded the whole album at home in our living room in Reykjavik. We did mix the album in Hawaii though, and that was amazing. We decided to not mix in a studio, and mix the album ourselves somewhere different. Jónsi ended up finding this Raw food commune in the middle of the jungle ... so we went there. We shipped our speakers and other gear there. And we worked from a laptop on 100% solar power. It was a really cozy was to mix the album.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Listening to "All the Big Trees" and "Daniell in the Sea", the small ambient touches remind me both of glitch/IDM artist Oval and the slower numbers by Four Tet, almost as if the song is based more on its atmosphere than it's formal structure. What was the writing approach like for this album? Much like Sigur Ros' Hvraf/Hiem release, can you see yourself ever taking these songs into a stripped down, possibly acoustic format?</span><br /><br />We were trying to create an atmosphere that felt good to us. Making these songs was a little different to writing ‘pop’ songs on piano or guitar. We would slowly build a song over a long period of time ... until it felt whole. We worked on this album on and off for five years. The album itself is all acoustic instruments and voices ... there are no synthesizers or electronics actually ... We love to treat the voices and instruments heavily inside samplers to create new sounds. So if we decide to play concerts it will be all acoustic too ...<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>For both of your parent bands, it seems that the very purpose of your groups is aimed at sweet, beautiful catharsis. By abandoning traditional pop structures with Riceboy, however, it feels like you're trying to reach the same goal but by alternate means. What, ultimately, do you want a listener to take away from a Riceboy Sleeps experience?</span><br /><br />There is nothing specific we are saying. Only hoping to give people a good feeling or inspire them...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Will there be live Riceboy Sleep performances in the near-future? If so, what can we expect?</span><br /><br />Maybe, we are not sure yet. Nothing this year for sure though...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Finally, so far in the formation and recording process, what has been the biggest regret for you guys, and, conversely, what's been your proudest moment?</span><br /><br />We are very happy and proud to share this album with people now. We are also quite excited about this special edition box we’ve been making. It is full of lots of neat stuff, plus another EP we made. One regret might be that we have not published our recipe book yet...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.riceboysleeps.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit Riceboy Sleeps' official website</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-88183351300875364322009-07-02T01:00:00.001-05:002009-07-02T13:38:17.278-05:00INTERVIEW: The List<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4gNs3C9PBpYz0J8pttf5bRVOiyXOA3SbFnAWYGanhlAgrm2yiUQiXbHwg08osvbRtyKUSyC6ILDDm6cIy0OthBwTn8DZUNMIPlChpof5lO58kPJdw5F_VbMTJBiVl5CzMbLaB0_Bznu5/s1600-h/List+Inty.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW4gNs3C9PBpYz0J8pttf5bRVOiyXOA3SbFnAWYGanhlAgrm2yiUQiXbHwg08osvbRtyKUSyC6ILDDm6cIy0OthBwTn8DZUNMIPlChpof5lO58kPJdw5F_VbMTJBiVl5CzMbLaB0_Bznu5/s400/List+Inty.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353609724597347554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chris Karman</span> will never, ever, be faulted for lack of ambition.<br /><br />As the frontman to the alternative space-rock combo <a href="http://www.myspace.com/outer7th">Outer 7th</a>, Karman has already carved out his own unique niche in the modern rock landscape, but with his side-project <span style="font-weight: bold;">The List</span>, he takes things even further. Formed with fellow guitarist Nate Cooper, The List was initially a musical project based around a sci-fi novel that Cooper's father had written. As time went on, however, the concept was eventually abandoned in favor of the dynamic sounds that Karman and Cooper were able to come up together as The List, ranging from the ping-pong guitar crunch of "STSD" to the hushed, wounded acoustic number "Disease", showcasing a unique brand of eclecticism that is markedly different from Karman's work with Outer 7th (though just as thrilling). With The List's debut EP due out August 25th on Satellite Star, we managed to pull Karman aside to discuss how it felt to have total free reign in the studio, why the sci-fi novel concept was eventually scraped, and why he doesn't mind having The List's debut be equated to that of a good breakup album (even if that wasn't the intention) ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>When you formed the band with Nate, you initially designed it as a way to create a concept album about a novel that Nate's father wrote. Though you eventually abandoned that idea, did any remnants of that concept wind up working its way into the List's music? If so, how?</span><br /><br />We eventually abandoned the idea to create a concept album because it was so limiting and I was really looking for a project that would allow me to finally let some of the songs that don’t really fit Outer 7th’s mold see the light of day. Those songs just didn’t fit naturally into a concept album, especially a concept album based on a complex narrative. We really truly abandoned the original album altogether, instead opting for an “anything goes” attitude and a new set of songs. That being said, we may revisit the concept album on some future release. It is a great story that could easily translate into a pretty enjoyable album.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>The thing that strikes me most about your initial recordings is how wildly eclectic they are, as "STSD" could get play on Modern Rock Radio while "Disease" could easily become a viral blog hit. What rules or boundaries did you guys set out when you began recording as the List? What works did you surprise even yourself by?</span><br /><br />I wouldn’t say we really had any rules per se, aside from the idea that we both had to be excited about the material we used. Ultimately, there are a lot of boundaries in Outer 7th, not boundaries that have been consciously put in place, but we’ve been a band for a pretty long time and as a band we’re drawn to certain sounds and styles. I didn’t want to have to worry about any such concerns with the List. If we were both excited about a song, we were using it, we’d worry about where it fit on the EP later.<br /><br />In terms of what works surprised me, that’s a tough one. Having never had free reign of a studio before, I had no idea what we were going end up with at the end of our sessions and most of the songs morphed to some degree once we started to record them. I was consistently inspired by the creative energy that was flying around the studio while we recorded. In a lot of ways, I was surprised by the outcome of the entire project simply because of how malleable the songs turned out to be.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>There's assuredly a sense of longing on the lyrical content of this disc, especially on "Go Fly", with its constant reminders of being alone, which -- when added with the bittersweet, straightforward of "Disease" -- makes the List's debut EP feel almost, almost, like a breakup album. Where does the lyrical content from the List stem from, and how does that differ from your work with Outer 7th?</span><br /><br />As a lyricist, I certainly have a style, a style present in any song I write be it for the List or Outer 7th. I think the music dictates a lot of the content in the lyrics themselves, so there is naturally a different shape to the lyrics I write for the List as opposed to the lyrics I write for Outer 7th. It’s not deliberate necessarily though. By and large, the lyrical content in the List’s songs is definitely personal and immediate, which isn’t always the case in Outer 7th. You certainly can make a case for the EP as a breakup album, it wasn’t really our intention, but the theme of failed relationships and a sense of longing does crop up on most of the songs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Given the many moods and styles that the List fly through in these six songs, what proved to be the biggest obstacle when recording/engineering this beast?</span><br /><br />The biggest obstacle we had was maintaining a sense of structure to the record while allowing ourselves to delve into different moods and styles. We recorded, mixed and mastered the record in two four-day sessions and they were pretty intense. We had a lot of work to do in what seemed like a very short amount of time and there was only two of us (save for the drummer we hired for the sessions). I feel like because we recorded the entire EP in such a short amount of time using similar recording techniques for each of the songs there are a lot of common threads holding everything together.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lastly, what do you hope people will take out of listening to the List? What do you ultimately hope the band achieves?</span><br /><br />Ultimately, I just want the List’s music to be challenging, but somewhat accessible, however that happens to manifest itself. Hopefully, despite the fact that we follow our whims and try to remain as open as possible, we retain a sense of cohesion (however scattershot it may seem upon first listen). And I hope people enjoy the music, of course.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.myspace.com/thelistlosangeles">Visit the List's official MySpace</a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-64228900693418343542009-06-25T01:00:00.000-05:002009-06-25T01:00:17.017-05:00ALEATORY #24: Jeepster<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXQD5F9Z4zVN3gv1yocV5M5bJ1G2CsfAfBXCmuh0NsskShLoQyWZ0-P25e_446IMS9NsV1s0VZ9XvRYComQM4BhSq7bmUYGg2tazQhYTcjBgI_cCoKDmPHjrs9kI5meliXk1cnEOA9D43/s1600-h/JeepsterAl.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXQD5F9Z4zVN3gv1yocV5M5bJ1G2CsfAfBXCmuh0NsskShLoQyWZ0-P25e_446IMS9NsV1s0VZ9XvRYComQM4BhSq7bmUYGg2tazQhYTcjBgI_cCoKDmPHjrs9kI5meliXk1cnEOA9D43/s400/JeepsterAl.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351061388970054386" border="0" /></a><br />What happens when a trio of alt-rock outsiders that formed in San Francisco wind up getting signed to a French record label prior to releasing their recorded-in-a-Lake-Tahoe-cabin debut? Why, you get <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeepster</span>, of course.<br /><br />The band -- consisting of singer Jonah Wells, drummer Justin Goings, and guitarist Kyle Marcelli -- just barely released their first album, <span style="font-style: italic;">What If All the Rebels Died?</span>, and it sounds like the distillation of all the 90s alt-rock giants you can think of through a lo-fi aesthetic. It's impossible not to hear the spirit of the Smashing Pumpkins surge through tracks like "Sweet 1:23" or the Radiohead-by-way-of-Harvey-Danger keyboard waltz that is "Fiction Fiction". Though tracks like "Ex Oh" perfectly capture that sense of pre-millennial Modern Rock nostalgia that is so tragically lacking on the airwaves these days, the group still proudly exists in the present, coming soon to a town near you but not before each member participated in Globecat's 24th Aleatory, revealing that not only can the group teach you how to smurf, but also that you should avoid playing at Days Inn Motels and that you should be afraid of "The Man" ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">19. Favorite foreign film? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Alejandro Joradowskys <span style="font-style: italic;">Fando y Lis</span>; before Jeepster, I wanted to name my next band Tarr after the fictional city portrayed in it.<br />JUSTIN: <span style="font-style: italic;">A woman is a woman</span>.<br />JONAH: <span style="font-style: italic;">Brazil</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">22. Favorite vice? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Cigarettes, they're fast, relatively inexpensive, and they don't subdue, damage nor hinder human interaction. If anything, they're a catalyst to human interaction, which on a good day, I support.<br />JUSTIN: Jamming.<br />JONAH: Soft drugs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Favorite chord/chord progression? </span><br /><br />KYLE: The ones invented by myself that don't have names, and the ones that don't have names made by other musicians.<br />JUSTIN: I play drums...<br />JONAH: Chord/chord? ...progression? ...favorite?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">32. Best thing you learned this week/month? </span><br /><br />KYLE: I learned about the sanctity of life, the various depths of love, and how relavent I feel my art is. It's been a busy month.<br />JUSTIN: Don't do drugs.<br />JONAH: "...Gods favorite color is purple."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">33. What's something you could teach anyone in an hour or less? </span><br /><br />KYLE: How to dance, how to tie a shoe, how to negate the obvious, how to point out the obvious, how to forgive, how to forget.<br />JUSTIN: Don't do drugs.<br />JONAH: How to smurf.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">38. What is your family like? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Very important, very practical, very logical, very loyal, and vey supportive.<br />JUSTIN: I love them.<br />JONAH: R e l i g i o u s.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">43. What's the road ahead look like? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Imagine the road as a collection of variables co-dependent on other varaibels, and that this road has never been driven before. It looks very strange in a very endearing way.<br />JUSTIN: Worldwide.<br />JONAH: Worldwide Travel.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">45. What's the best lie you've ever told? </span><br /><br />KYLE: It wouldn't be a good lie if I acknowledged the truth.<br />JUSTIN: Nothing good.<br />JONAH: I can't remember any I'm proud of.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">47. Biggest fear? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Flying, this is a new fear, one only relavent after a realization of the science behind an airplane.<br />JUSTIN: The man.<br />JONAH: Loneliness, though I think I'm finally getting over that one too.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">48. Biggest moment of triumph? </span><br /><br />KYLE: In the midst of it.<br />JUSTIN: So far, finishing <span style="font-style: italic;">What If All the Rebels Died?</span><br />JONAH: Boogie @ Midnight.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">52. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation? </span><br /><br />KYLE: It's not an occupation. When you realize it's an occupation, it's not art, and you've lost focus from why you started making music.<br />JUSTIN: When I was born.<br />JONAH: I've been high my whole life.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">55. You're curating a festival. If you could choose any two bands to open for you, who would they be? To open? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Warren Ellis from the Bad Seeds doing a solo effected violin set, followed by some smooth dancey fun band like the Whitest Boy Alive or Phoenix.<br />JUSTIN: The Walkmen, Dr. Dog<br />JONAH: Ratatat and The Flaming Lips.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">56. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Everyday, I will be as soon as Nate Pendry gets out of jail and Sham Ulrich learns to compose his drunken piano banters into incredibly complex pop songs.<br />JUSTIN: Occasionaly.<br />JONAH: And how.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">59. Worst venue you've ever played? </span><br /><br />KYLE: The Casbar in Santa Rosa, it's a venue inside of a Days Inn Motel, but feels like a skating ring.<br />JUSTIN: Cafe Coda.<br />JONAH: Those are some big shoes to fill!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">61. What's the best advice you could give to a young, upstart band? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Realize the difference between a record and a live show, but keep in mind it all coincides to a listener.<br />JUSTIN: Quit everything in your life that takes time away from the group.<br />JONAH: Practice/jam/record.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">70. What is a personal belief you hold that you would fight for to the death? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Love.<br />JUSTIN: J E S U S<br />JONAH: Only love.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">79. Best concert you've ever been to? </span><br /><br />KYLE: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds two nights in a row at the Warfield in San Francisco. Those guys are over fifty and have more energy than most bands I see in their twenties.<br />JUSTIN: Tie between Radiohead and the Mars Volta at Coachella.<br />JONAH: Deerhoof @ UC Davis a few years ago.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">85. What's the biggest mistake you've made that you inadvertently learned a great lesson from? </span><br /><br />KYLE: I don't feel that if I've learned a valuable lesson that the actions that caused it were actually mistakes.<br />JUSTIN: Not drinking enough water.<br />JONAH: I've made many mistakes but have no regrets.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">87. Ultimately, you will want to be remembered as … </span><br /><br />KYLE: A sea shell in a sea of shells that encompass the most beautiful mosaic of culture and art the world has ever seen.<br />JUSTIN: "That dude can jam."<br />JONAH: A lover.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">90. Sexiest thing about you? </span><br /><br />KYLE: My winning personality obviously.<br />JUSTIN: Probably my tunes...<br />JONAH: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/jeepsterarmy"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit Jeepster's official MySpace</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-37777026194810478062009-06-18T22:18:00.011-05:002012-04-22T18:45:10.057-05:00The Globecat One-Year Anniversary Spectacular!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRiA2EsbxUbe4v2s0OJ1PnNX-ALdM0TdlUouG31miJOApxtSE93iWKP-nthPlAs-YBFaffB7IZkKZNCIwFJzNNaAB6iLjoSTf2AB4FRuMqpbFFsip549RKkzo-SeT039Xh12lmHVJCyrmo/s1600-h/GCOYAS.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348873489768698498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRiA2EsbxUbe4v2s0OJ1PnNX-ALdM0TdlUouG31miJOApxtSE93iWKP-nthPlAs-YBFaffB7IZkKZNCIwFJzNNaAB6iLjoSTf2AB4FRuMqpbFFsip549RKkzo-SeT039Xh12lmHVJCyrmo/s400/GCOYAS.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 147px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
It's strange to think that one year ago, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Globecat</span> opened its digital doors to the world. It started out small: a young, mega-talented folk artist named <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/interview-will-stratton.html">Will Stratton</a> was the first to step up to the interview hot seat, and since then, we've hosted Grammy-winning songwriters like <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/08/interview-dan-wilson.html">Dan Wilson</a>, Tony-winning composers like <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2009/01/aleatory-19-jason-robert-brown.html">Jason Robert Brown</a>, iconic rock legends like <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/09/interview-rob-pollard.html">Rob Pollard</a>, <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/07/aleatory-7-mark-romanek.html">one of the greatest music video directors of all time</a>, and <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/10/interview-tim-ries.html">even </a><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/10/interview-tim-ries.html">members of the Rolling Stones</a>. Sometimes we contact the artists directly; sometimes the publicists are the ones e-mailing us. No matter what though, we always try to develop a good dialogue, have uncovered some fantastic answers, and — most critically — have brought you the readers some funny, exciting, and downright fascinating revelations about the musicians who you love and care about just as much as we do.<br />
<br />
So to celebrate our first year in business, the Globecat staff has assembled a list of fascinating facts, personal statements, kickass songs, and other goodies to usher in Globecat's second year of excitement. So, without further ado, let's begin with ...<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Benjamin Durdle's Song</span></li>
</ul>
Globecat site designer and occasional recording artist <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=294297763"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Benjamin Durdle</span></a> has recorded the song "Carbon Otters" to celebrate Globecat's birthday:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='360' height='300' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwPgqXIwXol-XJ3puuAIUNS47uW7m9ZD6oBgAUGr26i5b0_DSB31uSc3anMjYLBclCL7-QM_PddN_U1CUkZpA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Our Three Most Popular Interviews</span></li>
</ul>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><blockquote>
<a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/08/interview-anton-newcombe-brian.html">Anton Newcombe</a> of the Brian Jonestown Massacre [we're guessing because of his thoughts towards <span style="font-style: italic;">DiG!</span> director Ondi Timoner]</blockquote>
</li>
<li><blockquote>
Kompakt Records founder <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/08/interview-wolfgang-voigt.html">Wolfgang Voigt</a> [who just opens up and is willing to discuss just about any aspect of his career for us]</blockquote>
</li>
<li><blockquote>
Orchestral duo <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/08/interview-es-posthumus.html">E.S. Posthumus</a> [easy: they revealed that they're working on their follow up to their smash-hit debut <span style="font-style: italic;">Unearthed</span> to us, which only makes us wish to do a follow-up interview all the more — also, just damn cool guys]</blockquote>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Davecat's Globecat Memories</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
"I first came up with the idea in a fit of jealous rage. It was either start a website or kill Evan. In his other job, Evan writes for <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/">PopMatters.com</a>, where he works as the Associate Interviews Editor. In that capacity he's interviewed everyone from <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/i-dont-have-any-regrets-an-interview-with-avril-lavigne/">Avril Lavigne</a> (really) to <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/why-does-the-music-have-to-end-an-interview-with-lou-reed/">Lou Reed</a> (really). And okay, I envied his success. I wanted to talk to famous people, too. Or, failing that, murder.<br />
<br />
Something needed to be done. I flipped a coin and it was website (though really, it was best of seven: that quarter totally wanted him dead).<br />
<br />
Having decided on my course of action, I immediately set to work. Three minutes in I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I got the fire extinguisher and put out the flames shooting from my computer. Whatever had just happened wasn't getting me any closer to having a music website. I needed help.<br />
<br />
I had already given some thought to the format of the site, as I am really good at planning things in my head and thinking up acceptance speeches for awards I haven't won yet for products I haven't yet produced. Do they even give out Grammys for Best Website? Just in case, I wanted to be sure to thank T-Pain, for whatever it is he does.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I wanted to have a website that focuses solely on interviews with musicians, instead of having interviews as just one of the services offered. Many music websites will sit down with musicians, but it almost feels secondary; after the daily album reviews, track reviews, tour news, music videos, etc., the features where they actually talk with the people responsible for the aforementioned albums, tracks, etc. and find out what <em>they</em> think about all this get pushed to the side, and that doesn't seem right to me.<br />
<br />
If you'll excuse a West Coast food metaphor, I wanted my website to be the In-N-Out Burger of music sites. For those of you on the East Coast: the Five Guys of music sites. For international readers: the restaurant with a very limited menu that doesn't offer a lot of choices, but does those few things remarkably well, of music sites. For vegetarians: the salad bar that only has carrots but the carrots are somehow better than all the other carrots you've ever had in your life. Of music sites.<br />
<br />
As I wrote one year ago in our <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/mission-statement.html">Mission Statement</a>, by having musicians share their thoughts on their process behind their product -- the product other websites already do a fine job of reviewing -- the gap between Artist and Listener is closed a bit more. From the beginning I knew that I didn't want to edit the responses we received, not just because I'm lazy, but because I didn't want us to leave anything, at all, out of the interviews. If the artist said it, I wanted you, the Reader, to read it.<br />
<br />
Because ideally, you wouldn't need us at all. Ideally, all of your favorite musicians would be able to talk to you at any time. If I could call up <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/08/aleatory-10-pocahaunted.html">Pocahaunted</a> or the <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/08/aleatory-11-vivian-girls.html">Vivian Girls</a> or <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/09/interview-nico-muhly.html">Nico Muhly</a> at four in the morning to ask them what their <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/16">favorite campfire story</a> is, I totally would, but I don't have a phone. I do, however, have a website.<br />
<br />
What I didn't have, however, was any idea of how to get ahold of some musicians. I figured I could probably go to some shows, stick business cards into the bands' speaker cabinets and wait around to see who responded, but I was convinced there had to be a better way. But I mean, how do you go about contacting artists? Who would even know how to do that?<br />
<br />
I filled Evan in on all of my thoughts and found that he was more than willing to help. The next day we started sending out e-mails like crazy, contacting absolutely everyone we could think of and staying up until three or four in the morning. Soon, with a little help from our friends, and an incredible response from artists that had no reason to even give us the time of day, much less long, detailed, insightful, touching, and often hilarious answers to our questions, we had a brand-new website on our hands.<br />
<br />
Thank you to all of the musicians who have taken time out of their busy schedules for us over the past year, and especially to all of the people from countries all over the world who have stopped in and read what they have written for you. That's what makes running this site worthwhile.<br />
<br />
And to think, it could have all turned out so differently. I'm just glad I didn't leave that coin-flip at best of five. "</blockquote>
Dave, I think you owe me a quarter for something ...<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The List of Bands We're Still Awaiting Responses From</span></li>
</ul>
Just to show you that this is not all sunshine and chocolates, here are the bands who we have successfully contacted and have managed to speak to directly and/or through their publicists, sent questions in, and ... have received nothing back to date. If you're any one of these bands/artists, please check your inboxes again:<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">The Books</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Christopher Bissonnette</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Laulu laakson kukista</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Rhys Chatham</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">The National</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Sandro Perri</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Dosh</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, film composer </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Alexandre Desplat</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Luke Wyland</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Air France</span><span style="font-size: 130%;"></span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Oval</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">The Protomen</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Brendan Canning</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Stars of the Lid</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">the Avett Brothers</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Lykke Li</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Louis XIV</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">Laura Barrett</span><span style="font-size: 130%;">, & </span><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">tomandandy</span><span style="font-size: 130%;"></span></blockquote>
So yeah. We're still waiting. <br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat's Aleatory</span></li>
</ul>
Just to show that we're not totally merciless when it comes to our famed <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html">Aleatory</a> questions, the co-founders of the site are submitting themselves through the exact same process. As such, here are <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span>'s responses to all 100 questions of the daunting, exciting, and damn-near inimitable Aleatory ...<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-weight: bold; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/1">1</a>. Favorite word?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: right;">
Xenophobia.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/2" style="font-weight: bold;">2</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite board game?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Strip <span style="font-style: italic;">Guitar Hero</span>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/3" style="font-weight: bold;">3</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite key to write in?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Any.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/4" style="font-weight: bold;">4</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite person to have worked with?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Dave, presumably.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/5" style="font-weight: bold;">5</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite piece of equipment?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">My brand-new effects pedal with built-in drum beats! Makes producing on the fly so much more damn fun ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/6" style="font-weight: bold;">6</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite visual artist?/Favorite work of visual art?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Album art is still an art within itself, and I'm a big fan of simplicity, which is why any photograph used for the cover a Mark Kozelek album is instantly awesome to me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/7" style="font-weight: bold;">7</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite composer?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Joshua Ralph.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/8" style="font-weight: bold;">8</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite author?/Favorite book?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Author is a tie between Chuck Klosterman and Ayn Rand. Book ... christ, that's a tough one. I'm going to go with <span style="font-style: italic;">Atlas Shrugged</span> for the time being just due to its life-changing awesomeness.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/9" style="font-weight: bold;">9</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite song to start (or end) a mixtape with?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Basement Jaxx's "Good Luck", Two Tongue</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">s' "Crawl", Phoenix's "If I Ever Feel Better", Bell Orchestre's "Throw It On a Fire", Beth Orton's "Stolen Car", Dovetail Joint's "Gassed", Gay Dad's "Joy", Klaatu's "Prelude", and the Dismemberment Plan's "You Are Invited" are all great openers, but that's just a sampling.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/10" style="font-weight: bold;">10</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite lyric?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">"Hey, look me over / Tell me do you like what you see / Hey, I ain't got no money / But I'm rich in personality"<br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">or!<br /><br />"The opposite of true love is as follows: <span style="font-style: italic;">REALITY!</span>"</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/11" style="font-weight: bold;">11</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite music video?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1RfSnGZKic">It isn't obvious</a>?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/12" style="font-weight: bold;">12</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite band when you were in high school?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The Flaming Lips.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/13" style="font-weight: bold;">13</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite Shakespearean play?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">MacBeth</span>, 'cos of all the killings.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/14" style="font-weight: bold;">14</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite sound?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">That little "new mail" deedle in my inbox. It excites me. Sexually.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/15" style="font-weight: bold;">15</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite exhibit or subject at the museum?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Only applicable to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/16" style="font-weight: bold;">16</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite campfire story?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I don't really have a "campfire story" as much as I just have amusing anecdotes about my life and the ridiculous scrapes I've gotten myself into more than anything else.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/17" style="font-weight: bold;">17</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite plant?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">So many ways to answer this one ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/18" style="font-weight: bold;">18</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite pick-up line?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">"Tell her that you want her to donate her</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"> body to science and you're science!"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/19" style="font-weight: bold;">19</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite foreign film?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373981/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Kontroll</span></a> -- also features the greatest soundtrack ever, hands down.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/20" style="font-weight: bold;">20</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite new band?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Los Campesinos! are still rocking my damn world. It's not often you find <span style="font-style: italic;">smart</span> feel-good rock music at insanely high speeds. In many ways, I feel like they were the band designed just for me ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/21" style="font-weight: bold;">21</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite album(s) from the past year?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Robyn's self-titled is fantastic, Dosh's <span style="font-style: italic;">Wishes & Wolves</span> was jaw-dropping in terms of its awesome, and any year with a new Butch Walker album is a good year to me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/22" style="font-weight: bold;">22</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite vice?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">If you know me, you should already know what it is. If you don't know, put your feet up while I regail you with a story ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/23" style="font-weight: bold;">23</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite natural oddity?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The ways that thunderclouds collide isn't really an oddity, is it?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/24" style="font-weight: bold;">24</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite historical time period?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Collonial Williamsburg. Or the 1970s. One of those two.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/25" style="font-weight: bold;">25</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite historical figure?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Lou Reed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/26" style="font-weight: bold;">26</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite badass?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Admiral Adama.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/27" style="font-weight: bold;">27</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite chord/chord progression?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Whatever makes that thing sound good (I literally have no knowledge of proper chord progressions).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/28" style="font-weight: bold;">28</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What instrument would you most like to learn to play?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Keyboards and drums -- and not just me dinkin' around on them -- to learn them <span style="font-style: italic;">properly</span> ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/29" style="font-weight: bold;">29</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Who do you wish more people were listening to?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Robyn and South.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/30" style="font-weight: bold;">30</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">. How many languages do you speak?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Two: English and nerd.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/31" style="font-weight: bold;">31</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Other than musician, what career would you most enjoy?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I'm kind of living it right now mostly ... oh, well, except for actor. That's the big one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/32" style="font-weight: bold;">32</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Best thing you learned this week/month?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">More people need to listen to <span style="font-style: italic;">Dark Was the Night</span>. I learned that. No, really.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/33" style="font-weight: bold;">33</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's something you could teach anyone in an hour or less?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">How review an album properly</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"> (had a discussion about that today, actually ...)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/34" style="font-weight: bold;">34</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's the best joke you heard recently?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">"If I wanted to follow CNN on Twitter ... couldn't I just watch CNN?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/35" style="font-weight: bold;">35</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's the best place you've randomly discovered while on tour?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Well, tour, I dunno, but some of the abandoned gas stations on the route between Utah and Illinois make for great horror movie on-location fodder.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/36" style="font-weight: bold;">36</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Lyrics first or music first?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Music first. Lyrics always have to follow and fit the mood.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/37" style="font-weight: bold;">37</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What do you consider most important about a song's structure?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The chorus. That's the part that keeps you coming back again and again, and the more addictive it is, the more you get suckered into its punchdrunk dreaminess ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/38" style="font-weight: bold;">38</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What is your family like?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Extremely supportive, which I am eternally grateful for but rarely mention.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/39" style="font-weight: bold;">39</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's something you could probably beat anyone you know at?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Pop music trivia.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/40" style="font-weight: bold;">40</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What was your best/worst subject in school?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I was great in all my acting classes, but not so much when I took French ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/41" style="font-weight: bold;">41</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. If you could go anywhere in the universe, where would it be?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">To my beloved (wherever she/it may be).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/42" style="font-weight: bold;">42</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's an image that haunts you to this day?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The Christmas Eve where the family came home from a church service, I walked in and found our grandma splayed on the floor, bleeding from a severe fall. She was OK, but what a find that </span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">was ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/43" style="font-weight: bold;">43</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's the road ahead look like?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Unknown and marginally optimistic: just the way I like it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/44" style="font-weight: bold;">44</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Something you've heard, know is false, but wish were true with all your heart?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">That socialized medicine will work.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/45" style="font-weight: bold;">4</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/45" style="font-weight: bold;">5</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's the best lie you've ever told?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">During a job interview several years ago, I was asked what my greatest weakness was, and said "Sometimes I work <span style="font-style: italic;">too</span> hard." Somehow, they interviewer believed me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/46" style="font-weight: bold;">46</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Where do you keep things hidden? What do you keep hidden there?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">My hard drive, obviously ;-)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/47" style="font-weight: bold;">47</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Biggest fear?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">That I'll die and not be remembered for anything.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/48" style="font-weight: bold;">48</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Biggest moment of triumph?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Impossible to settle on just one thing, but being on NPR twice, acting in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ruling Class</span>, and just working with Brian Conley in general have all been pretty amazing high points.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/49" style="font-weight: bold;">49</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Now that you know a much larger audience will get to hear the music you've made, has your writing changed at all? How? What's changed and what's stayed the same?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Well, this isn't particularly true for me ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/50" style="font-weight: bold;">50</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's your religious tradition or background?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">First Church of Atheism.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/51" style="font-weight: bold;">51</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Wha</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">t are you currently obsessed with?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Prince's girl-group side projects like Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6. Anything with a 6 in it, really. Also, Vanity 6's "He's So Dull" is just all kinds of awesome.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/52" style="font-weight: bold;">52</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Ha ha, this is funny.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/53" style="font-weight: bold;">53</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. So far in your career, what's been your biggest regret?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Not doing more, sooner. Sound silly, but, really, I feel like I should have already accomplished more already being 24.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/54" style="font-weight: bold;">54</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. So far in your career, what's been</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> your proudest accomplishment?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">See #48.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/55" style="font-weight: bold;">55</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. You're curating a festival. If you could choose any two bands to open for you, who would they be?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Motorcycles Are Everywhere and the Marches -- they'd be fun, kickass openers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/56" style="font-weight: bold;">56</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">There is nothing I'd like to do more.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/57" style="font-weight: bold;">57</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Most rock star thing you've ever done?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Getting drunk and jumping off the roof of an apartment complex.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/58" style="font-weight: bold;">58</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Least rock star thing you've ever done?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Laundry.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/59" style="font-weight: bold;">59</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Worst venue you've ever played?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The patio of the Gizmo.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/60" style="font-weight: bold;">60</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's the worst show you've ever played? What would you have done different?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The second Interoffice Romance show wherein I forgot the words to the song halfway through, leaving us coming off as brash and arrogant (which we were, but didn't want other people to know).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/61" style="font-weight: bold;">61</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's the best advice y</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ou could give to a young, upstart band?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Don't compromise a thing: your sound is your sound, and never once should you ever <span style="font-style: italic;">try</span> to sound like someone else.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/62" style="font-weight: bold;">62</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Your favorite song that you've done so far?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">"<a href="http://chandpieces.multiply.com/music/item/402/SawdEye_Unrequited_Single">Unrequited</a>" is still a favorite for me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/63" style="font-weight: bold;">63</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Band/artist you're secretly envious of?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Basement Ja</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">xx, for their never-ending awesome streak.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/64" style="font-weight: bold;">64</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Weirdest promotion you've been a part of?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Anytime I had to physically tell people that there was a new Nickelback album at work is when I felt immediately dirty in my heart and my soul.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/65" style="font-weight: bold;">65</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Ever see yourself penning the score/soundtrack to a TV show or film?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Starting with porno, yes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/66" style="font-weight: bold;">66</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Worst song you've heard recently?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/67" style="font-weight: bold;">67</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Do you reach any kind of personal catharsis when it comes to songwriting/performing?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Depending on the song, yes. Getting the re</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">ally personal stuff out in lyrical form kind of externalizes the problem, making it easier to deal with.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/68" style="font-weight: bold;">68</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Favorite interview you've ever been a part of (aside from this one, obviously)?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/megalomania-doesnt-have-a-tax-bracket-an-interview-with-ben-gibbard/">Ben Gibbard</a> was the nicest guy in the whole fuckin' world, lemme tell you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/69" style="font-weight: bold;">69</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. There's got to be one: who has been your craziest fan?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Some people once started a Facebook group about me and how sexy I was ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/70" style="font-weight: bold;">70</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What is a personal belief you hold that you would fight for to the death?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">That love is one of the purest, most profound experiences in the whole of existance, and anyone who tries to say otherwise can just ... eat ... poo.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/71" style="font-weight: bold;">71</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. How well do you feel your music lends itself to remixing or being covered?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">We'll find out soon, now won't we?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/72" style="font-weight: bold;">72</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. A few years ago, Beck gave an interview for SPIN in which he lamented the glut of reality TV shows and blogs about musicians, wanting to know less details about their life because he felt they were more mysterious that way (he liked to envision Devo as living in a crazed art-deco pyramid when he was young, instead of just some guys in a tour bus). Do you feel that there's a lack of mystique out there for musicians in today's YouTube age? Do you feel your band carries any mystique?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I think certain bands try to pull it off, most often</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"> by staying out of the spotlight (like Jandek). But I dunno -- Jack White is one of the most hugely famous rock stars in the world, and there's still a lot of mystery about him ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/73" style="font-weight: bold;">73</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Are there any songs that you're working on right now?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">One awesomely huge Smashing Pumpkins-styled number that I'm very fond of but haven't recorded any vocals for yet. I want the lyrics to be freakin' perfect ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/74" style="font-weight: bold;">74</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Better to burn out or to fade away?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Burn out -- leaves a lasting impression better.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/75" style="font-weight: bold;">75</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Very first song that you ever wrote?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Oh god. I still have some of those song sheets around, but I couldn't tell ya for the life of me. Consis</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">ted of two chords, I'll tell you that much ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/76" style="font-weight: bold;">76</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Dream collaboration?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The album I record with Beck, natch.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/77" style="font-weight: bold;">77</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What was the hardest part about recording your current release?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Um ... (Part 2!)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/78" style="font-weight: bold;">78</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Your life has been reduced</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> to a bumper sticker: what does it say?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Your life has been reduced to a bumper sticker: what does it say?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/79" style="font-weight: bold;">79</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Best concert you've ever been to?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Hard to say, but the Most Serene Republic was one of the all-time classics, if not just for the totally-impromptu acoustic set they did around a December campfire immediately following the show.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/80" style="font-weight: bold;">80</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Worst run-in with the law (to date)?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Almost arrested for driving late at night outside of Cleveland, accused of smuggling drugs into Ohio while actually on my way to a theatre audition in New Conchord, OH. Poor Brian's car and the psycho-dog lady that was called in ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/81" style="font-weight: bold;">81</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. If you could sync an album of yours to a </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">movie (like </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Dark Side of the Moon</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Wizard of Oz</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">), what movie would it be?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I'd sync up <span style="font-style: italic;">The Soft Dive Into Oblivion</span> with <span style="font-style: italic;">The Room</span> so damn easily ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/82" style="font-weight: bold;">82</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Current pop song that you would file under "guilty pleasure"?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Britney Spears' "Unusual You". I know, it's Britney, but it's such a fucking incredible production job ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/83" style="font-weight: bold;">83</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Have you ever thought of pulling a Jack White-styled Raconteurs/White Stripes thing and be in multiple bands at once? If so, what would the other band </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">sound like?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I'm in the Corresponding Handpieces, The Interoffice Romance, Three Car Garage, the Avenging Unicorns, Liquid Toaster ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/84" style="font-weight: bold;">84</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Most disappointing concert you ever attended?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Blink-182.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/85" style="font-weight: bold;">85</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's the biggest mistake you've made that you inadvertently learned a great lesson from?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Really, it was more caving into relationships with girls that I didn't have any particular affinity for, compromising for them just 'cos they wanted to be with me. I learned that you can never, ever do that, and you should never, ever try to make everyone happy just so they like you: that's impossible. Friends come and go, but the true ones accept you for who you are, and since I learned that, I feel positively liberated in my life ...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/86" style="font-weight: bold;">86</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. With Radiohead's </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">In Rainbows</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> release and Nine Inch Nails doing boffo business with his online releases, do you see yourself ever doing some alterative kind of release for any of your future projects?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">If I have any projects worth releasing in that format, sure!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/87" style="font-weight: bold;">87</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Ultimatel</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">y, you will want to be remembered as …</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">A musician, writer, well-respected critic, and nice guy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/88" style="font-weight: bold;">88</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's your deepest source for musical inspiration?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Trying to personally best my own pop-song writing abilities each and every time. As great as each new thing is that I do, it has to always be better than what came before: I couldn't live with myself if I "settled".</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/89" style="font-weight: bold;">89</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. You just died. I'm sorry. Fortunately, your will states that you want very specific music to be played at your funeral. What did you choose?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">"Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/90" style="font-weight: bold;">90</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Sexiest thing about you?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">My ... 'fro.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/91" style="font-weight: bold;">91</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Which single album should be in everybody's home?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">J.Ralph's <span style="font-style: italic;">Music to Mauzner By</span>, no question. That and Harvey Danger's <span style="font-style: italic;">King James Version</span>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/92" style="font-weight: bold;">92</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Which venue are you dying to play but have not yet had the chance to?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Radio City Music Hall, obviously.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/93" style="font-weight: bold;">93</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Longest show you ever played? What was different?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">The IOR show on the Gizmo patio. That was one of </span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">those rare times where people <span style="font-style: italic;">asked</span> us to perform.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/94" style="font-weight: bold;">94</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. What's your hardest song to replicate live?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">All the non-solo-acoustic ones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/95" style="font-weight: bold;">95</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Do you ever read your own reviews?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I usually write my own reviews.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/96" style="font-weight: bold;">96</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. The one thing that no one knows about you (yet)?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">I once won a high-school talent show for being a contortionist. No joke.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/97" style="font-weight: bold;">97</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Your label wants to do a music video for a song off your album, and have inexplicably procured $1,000,000 as a budget, </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">then decide that you'd best direct the visual accompaniment to your own music. What song do you choose, and what will your video look like?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Oh, easy: "Dirty Sweat" set in a sleek, gritty, nighttime dance club filled with laser light and frantic, highly choreographed dancing. I'd film it on a budget of $50,000 and just pocket the rest, truth be told (yeah ... the "catering table" cost a lot of "money", ha ha ha ...)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/98" style="font-weight: bold;">98</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Would you say that there's somewhat of a political undertone to your music? If so, what motivates it?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">No. I don't like music.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/99" style="font-weight: bold;">99</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">GREAT (assuming they'd want them)!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/search/label/100" style="font-weight: bold;">100</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">. Even with the gradual decay of the B-side, most artists still have vaults of unreleased songs. What's in yours?</span></span><br />
<br />
I have a lot of experiments and things that have either never quite worked out musically or just never given proper lyrical consideration. Truth be told, these will probably all see the light of day eventually, but I just haven't gotten around to dealing with them as of yet.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
+++</div>
<br />
And just 'cos we know you were asking for it ...<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Davecat's Aleatory</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Favorite word?</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
I have so many. You almost have to break it down by language. English? Carom, maybe. Or entopic. Escalate is good, too. Did you know it's actually a back-formation from "escalator," and not the other way around? Before the 1920s, when the escalator was invented, there was never an "escalation" of anything. Nothing "escalated." In fact, the common definition of the word today ("to increase or develop by successive stages") only came into use in the early 1960s. That's another word I like: etymology.<br />
<br />
Other languages: Spanish? Gruñón, or refunfuñar. The first means grumpy, and the second is the verb "to grouch." Complaining in Spanish is awesome. Yiddish? Zaftig, hands down, though I am also partial to chutzpah.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Favorite board game?</span><br />
<br />
My grandma had a game called Anti-Monopoly that we used to play that I've never seen anywhere else. It has nothing to do with Monopoly, but isn't really its opposite either. (I don't even know what that would be, a game about living in the woods?) I'm also a big fan of Cribbage and Michigan Rummy, though those are both card games that also happen to involve boards (or mason jars, as we used for the former when I learned how to play from my great aunt and uncle at the New Jersey shore; in that case, Michigan Rummy is without a doubt my favorite mason-jar game).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Favorite key to write in?</span><br />
<br />
C, or G# minor, as you're either using all white keys or (almost) all black keys on the piano. It makes things a lot easier for me.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Favorite person to have worked with?</span><br />
<br />
In high school I was in a band with two of my best friends, Tyler and Jason, who I've known since elementary school or earlier and am still in touch with. Our band was pretty bad in retrospect but band practice was always a great time.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Favorite piece of equipment?</span><br />
<br />
My DD-6 delay pedal, and my beautiful Les Paul. Instead of painting it flat they put a stain on it, so you can see the wood grain and everything. You can tell it used to be part of a tree. I'm a sucker for pretty woods.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Favorite visual artist?/Favorite work of visual art?</span><br />
<br />
I'm a fan of a lot of Kazuya Akimoto's work, especially "<a href="http://kazuya-akimoto.com/2008/2008images/IMG_7046_head_leviathan.jpg">The Head of Leviathan</a>." They're paintings perfectly suited for ekphrasis (my favorite Greek word). I also love Mariano Fortuny y Marsal's "African Chief": I saw it at the Art Institute of Chicago and couldn't believe it was made with oil paint. It looks photoshopped: the entire painting is blurred slightly, but then you get to the man's face and it's unbelievably clear. You can see every tiny detail of his expression. I have utmost respect for people who can paint like that.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Favorite composer?</span><br />
<br />
Arvo Pärt, Sergei Rachmaninov, Charles Ives, and Thelonious Monk have all held that title at one time or another, though some nights Mark Molnar (of <a href="http://www.kingdomshore.ca/">Kingdom Shore</a>) is not far behind.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Favorite author?/Favorite book?</span><br />
<br />
How did I ever think anyone would be able to answer these questions? What was I thinking? Here are a few books: Bohumil Hrabal's <em>Too Loud a Solitude</em>, Nabokov's <em>Pale Fire</em>, Richard Brautigan's <em>A Confederate General from Big Sur</em>, Tim O'Brien's <em>The Things They Carried</em>. Authors not listed: Flannery O'Connor, David Foster Wallace, Edith Wharton, Junot Diaz, and especially Bernard Malamud.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">9. Favorite song to start (or end) a mixtape with?</span><br />
<br />
Neutral Milk Hotel's "Holland, 1945" has started more than one of my mixtapes, because I love Jeff Mangum counting it off. Also, though I don't necessarily remember ending a mixtape with it, I once had a nightmare that ended with the exact sound that closes out godspeed you! black emperor's "Motherfucker = Redeemer pt. 2" (the last track on Yanqui U.X.O.). That was a year or two before that album even came out, and when I heard it I totally freaked, like Efrim had been stealing from my dreams.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">10. Favorite lyric?</span><br />
<br />
"I don't know but I've been told / You never die and you never grow old." - Modest Mouse, "I Came as a Rat." Also, the meteor/oid/ite rhyme from Joanna Newsom's "Emily," which is one of the most brilliant things I've ever heard in a song.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">11. Favorite music video?</span><br />
<br />
I love sending Evan links to the music video for Grizzly Bear's "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYZbYtAl9A">Knife</a>" when I know he's stoned. It entertains me for hours. Maybe that's my favorite board game.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">12. Favorite band when you were in high school?</span><br />
<br />
I went through phases. I really liked godspeed you! black emperor, I really liked Sigur Ros — all those post-rock guys, really: Do Make Say Think, Mogwai, you know — but I think my heart belonged to Tori Amos. This was back before she started downhill. I listened to <em>Boys for Pele</em> and<em> From the Choirgirl Hotel</em> over and over and over again.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">13. Favorite Shakespearean play?</span><br />
<br />
I'm alone in this, but: <span style="font-style: italic;">Julius Caesar</span>, esp. the speech fight between Brutus and Mark Antony in Act III.<br />
<br />
On a related note, I can recite most of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet in one breath. It's my one and only party trick.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">14. Favorite sound?</span><br />
<br />
Harmonizing train whistles from two freight trains passing in the rain.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Favorite exhibit or subject at the museum?</span><br />
<br />
Huge dinosaurs.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">16. Favorite campfire story?</span><br />
<br />
It has to involve monsters. When I was young I read all the books I could find on monsters, and especially liked ones detailing ways to get rid of them. Hungarian vampires, for instance, are OCD. If you sprinkle mustard seeds on your roof, when they land on it at night they have to count all of the seeds, and will stay out until each and every last one has been counted, all the way up to sunrise, which destroys them.<br />
<br />
As far as monsters that would make good campfire stories, the legend of the Wendigo is pretty good, especially if it's cold out and the person sitting next to you looks tasty.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">17. Favorite plant?</span><br />
<br />
There is an enormous tree in the courtyard at the University of Barcelona. I can't remember what kind it is, but I used to eat my lunch sitting on its roots every day after classes got out. It is my favorite plant in the world.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Favorite pick-up line?</span><br />
<br />
I've awkwardly told a girl she was beautiful before, though I'm not sure it was a pick-up line so much as making sure she knew.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">19. Favorite foreign film?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Werckmeister Harmonies</span>, directed by Bela Tarr. Close, close seconds: Tarkovsky's <span style="font-style: italic;">Stalker</span>, or Kurosawa's <span style="font-style: italic;">Ran</span>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">20. Favorite new band?</span><br />
<br />
I've been really digging Cymbals Eat Guitar lately. They're like the perfect blend of <span style="font-style: italic;">Lonesome Crowded West</span>-era Modest Mouse (a fine era indeed) with Evangelicals, who had one of my favorite albums of last year.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Favorite album(s) from the past year?</span><br />
<br />
In addition to Cymbals Eat Guitar's <span style="font-style: italic;">Why There Are Mountains</span>, I've been listening to the new Bat for Lashes an awful lot. I'm pretending it's the new Tori Amos album, instead of the album that Tori actually released. <span style="font-style: italic;">Two Suns</span>: it's so good.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">22. Favorite vice?</span><br />
<br />
My dad has this great antique book press that he painted bright blue. My brother and I used to smash crayons in it when we were little. If turned on its side, it would make an excellent vice.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">23. Favorite natural oddity?</span><br />
<br />
Sonoluminescence. If you make a noise loud enough underwater, it will produce light. I'm totally serious about this.<br />
<br />
Also, cymatics: the study of the effects of sound on matter. For instance, if you sprinkle sand or something on a metal plate and then vibrate the plate, the sand forms patterns corresponding to the sound waves passing through the metal. Try it at home with some table salt, a cookie tray, and a cello bow. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cymatics" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/<wbr></wbr>results?search_query=cymatics</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">24. Favorite historical time period?</span><br />
<br />
Three Kingdoms China, ancient Egypt, the Reconquista and the Spanish Civil War. Some of the craziest things in the history of the world took place in those times.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">25. Favorite historical figure?</span><br />
<br />
Though you wouldn't guess it from my answers to #24, Ulysses S. Grant. I'm reading his memoirs right now and am in love with the man, who was at once humble, brave, funny, intelligent, and terrible at absolutely everything. He's one of the more interesting men I've ever spent time with, if only in book form.<br />
<br />
Athanasius Kircher and I also go way back.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">26. Favorite badass?</span><br />
<br />
Tom Waits. He gon' whittle you into kindling.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Favorite chord/chord progression?</span><br />
<br />
F#maj9, though whatever that chord is that starts Castanets' "Cathedral 2" is amazing. For progression: "Go Down, Moses."<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">28. What instrument would you most like to learn to play?</span><br />
<br />
There are so many. I wish I were a better guitarist, a better pianist, a better trombonist. I wish I had a cello, a bass, a bassoon, a berimbau, a domra, a nyckelharpa, an angélique, a surbahar, and someone to teach me how to play them.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">29. Who do you wish more people were listening to?</span><br />
<br />
The Autistic Daughters album that came out last year, <em>Uneasy Flowers</em>, though really, most everything Dean Roberts has been involved with has been anywhere from great to phenomenal.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">30. How many languages do you speak?</span><br />
<br />
I studied Spanish all through college, and I can read it pretty well, though speaking it is somewhat more of a challenge. It comes back to me in moments of panic.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">31. Other than musician, what career would you most enjoy?</span><br />
<br />
I think my calling is in education. I'd love to be a professor somewhere. Failing that, lottery-winner.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">32. Best thing you learned this week/month?</span><br />
<br />
Everything awesome I've learned this month came from Eliot Weinberger's <em>Karmic Traces</em>. His essays on Iceland were incredible, though that could be said about pretty much everything in that book. As long as you're making a list, put his <em>An Elemental Thing</em> on there, too. He has an essay on wrens in there that's one of the best things I've read in a long time.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">33. What's something you could teach anyone in an hour or less?</span><br />
<br />
How to count on your fingers in binary. You can count up to 31 on one hand, and over 1,000 with both of them. There's no reason you'd ever need to do that, but, you know, show your friends.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">34. What's the best joke you heard recently?</span><br />
<br />
A mathematician, a physicist, and a statistician are duck hunting.<br />
<br />
They see a duck flying by, and the mathematician fires, missing by a foot high.<br />
<br />
The physicist chides his friend for neglecting air friction and relative velocities, fires at the duck himself, and misses by a foot low.<br />
<br />
The statistician exclaims, "Yeah! We got 'im!"<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">35. What's the best place you've randomly discovere</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">d while on tour?</span><br />
<br />
At the Pitchfork Festival last year there was a food vendor selling these amazing Croatian sausages called ćevapčići, made from pork, beef, lamb, and garlic, and served with a red bell pepper, eggplant, and garlic sauce called ajvar, all in a warm pita. It was one of the best meals I've ever gotten from a cart.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">36. Lyrics first or music first?</span><br />
<br />
Lyrics. Unless I'm writing songs with Evan, in which case the lyrics are all improvised and come at more or less the same time as the improvised instrumental parts.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">37. What do you consider most important about a song's structure?</span><br />
<br />
Bridges can make or break a song. If you have a fantastic bridge it can help make up for a somewhat weaker verse; however, if your verse is good and your chorus is good but your bridge sucks, that clunky bit between the two of them is going to grate on your listener and draw away from the parts on either side of it.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">38. What is your family like?</span><br />
<br />
Extremely symmetrical. I have one brother (we're twins). My mom has one brother, eight years older than she is, and her mother; my dad has one sister, eight years older than he is, and his father. Neither my aunt or my uncle are married, so I have no cousins. My mom and dad also each have one cat.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">39. What's something you could probably beat anyone you know at?</span><br />
<br />
Fencing. I used to be pretty good, though I haven't done it in years. I don't know anyone else who fences, though, so I think I'd still have the advantage.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">40. What was your best/worst subject in school?</span><br />
<br />
English and I always got on pretty well. My worst subject was probably math. I was always a year behind. I'd struggle and struggle with advanced algebra all through that class, and then when I (barely) passed and moved up to trigonometry, suddenly advanced algebra clicked. It all made sense. Trigonometry, on the other hand, confused the hell out of me. If I hadn't stopped taking math classes after that one, however, I'd probably be able to trig-on with best of them.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">41. If you could go anywhere in the universe, where would it be?</span><br />
<br />
I've been missing Barcelona a lot lately. I'd try and find a planet that was just like that city and live there for a while.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">42. What's an image that haunts you to this day?</span><br />
<br />
There's that scene at the beginning of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Mothman Prophecies</span> where the monster swoops down and attacks the car that has pretty much scarred me for life. No one else ever seems to understand how terrifying that is to me. It comes out of nowhere.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">43. What's the road ahead look like?</span><br />
<br />
Grad school, but it might just be a heat mirage.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">44. Something you've heard, know is false, but wish were true with all your heart?</span><br />
<br />
The Mayans have some incredible creation myths, including one about one of their gods creating the world and another one jealously destroying it by sending jaguars to eat everyone. It's one of the most badass endtimes ever. The Great Flood? Not quite as scary as getting eaten by a jaguar.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">45. What's the best lie you've ever told?</span><br />
<br />
When I was I Boy Scouts we took a camping trip to Eagle Cave up in Wisconsin, which is the largest and only cave I've ever spent the night in. We spent all day spelunking, and people kept talking about how there were probably bats in there, so after dinner, as we were still crawling around everywhere, I pulled myself up into a little crevasse and starting chirping. The kids all came running and calling out, "Bat! There's a bat!" and while they climbed up to — I don't even know, catch it? — I climbed out the back way and pretended I was interested in the bat as well. For the rest of trip they kept talking about how they almost caught it but it flew away. I don't think I ever told them it was me.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">46. Where do you keep things hidden? What do yo</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">u keep hidden there?</span><br />
<br />
I used to keep money in the inside cover of my favorite Goosebumps book (<em>One Day at Horrorland</em>; I still own them all). I haven't done that for years and years, though, so don't break into my house and check.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">47. Biggest fear?</span><br />
<br />
People I love dying. Grievous bodily harm. Whales.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">48. Biggest moment of triumph?</span><br />
<br />
I won a whole stack of medals at a literary festival back in high school, probably because my poetry wasn't angsty and my stories weren't science fiction. I was a good writer back in high school, I don't know what the hell happened.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">49. Now that you know a much larger audience will get to hear the music you've made, has your writing changed at all? How? What's changed and what's stayed the same?</span><br />
<br />
This one isn't really applicable, as I don't think anyone has heard my music except the people I've written it with. I can say that when I write-write music, with notes, on the computer, the songs I write are far different from the ones I come up with on my own, messing around on the guitar or piano. I think about things more when I have a staff in front of me than if I'm writing from an instrument, though that usually means that the songs I write down sound more like intellectual exercises than music and the ones I don't sound sloppy.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">50. What's your religious tradition or background?</span><br />
<br />
I was raised Presbyterian, though my favorite part of church was playing hide-and-seek or sardines with the other kids afterward. My brother and I would always go to the kitchen after the service and drink all the extra little shots of grape juice that didn't get served as Communion. I really liked the pipe organ. Somewhere in between the three of those (childhood games, grape juice, giant instruments) is my current religious tradition.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">51. What are you currently obsessed with?</span><br />
<br />
I get obsessed with something new every day, but for a while now it's been cephalophores: Catholic saints who were martyred by being decapitated who then carry their heads around and speak.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">52. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation?</span><br />
<br />
If music somehow became my full-time occupation I would be more surprised than anyone.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">53. So far in your career, what's been your biggest regret?</span><br />
<br />
Having too many interests that take up too much non-music, non-writing time. I don't know if I regret that as much as wish the Earth spun a little slower and we all got 30-hour days.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">54. So far in your career, what's been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br />
<br />
I'm still incredibly pleased that the <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/10/feature-comic-book-tattoo-ming-doyle.html">Comic Book Tattoo</a> feature turned out as well as it did. <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/10/feature-comic-book-tattoo-rantz-hoseley.html">Rantz Hoseley</a> is one of the nicest men I've ever talked to, and went way out of his way for us to help us line up interviews and get it out there. When I first came up with the idea I didn't think there was any way we'd get it to work, but somehow it all came together.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">55. You're curating a festival. If you could choose any two bands to open for you, who would they be?</span><br />
<br />
Talk Talk and <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/07/aleatory-9-do-make-say-think.html">Do Make Say Think</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">56. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists?</span><br />
<br />
I almost have to. I'm a terrible singer but most of my songs have words.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">57. Most rock star thing you've ever done?</span><br />
<br />
I wear Buddy Holly glasses, and sort of look like Rivers Cuomo. That's about as rock star as I get.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">58. Least rock star thing you've ever done?</span><br />
<br />
One year for Halloween I dressed up as a pun.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">59. Worst venue you've ever played?</span><br />
<br />
Just once I'd like to record in a room that wasn't designed for sleeping, storing things, and/or made of concrete.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">60. What's the worst show you've ever played? What would you have done different?</span><br />
<br />
I've never played live with anything other than a marching band, which isn't really the same thing. I whacked someone in the head with my trombone once during a field show, though.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">61. What's the best advice you could give to a young, upstart band?</span><br />
<br />
Do all the interviews you can. I hear there are websites devoted to that sort of thing now.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">62. Your favorite song that you've done so far?</span><br />
<br />
I did an arrangement of "Cloud 9," from Caryl Churchill's play of the same name, as the music director one term back in college. It was bluesy and wonderful and way too difficult for the actors who had to play and sing it, so it didn't make it into the show. Only a very few people have ever heard it.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">63. Band/artist you're secretly envious of?</span><br />
<br />
I don't think there are any artists I'm "secretly" envious of. I am pretty openly envious of everyone. I haven't publicly stated how much I love Erykah Badu yet, though, so we'll go with her.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">64. Weirdest promotion you've been a part of?</span><br />
<br />
On my drive to work for a long time there was an enormous man, probably 6'3", 275 lbs, wearing a green Statue of Liberty costume, with a giant mask over his face, holding a sign for the local tax preparers. I didn't get my taxes done there, but as a witness I still consider myself part of that promotion.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">65. Ever see yourself penning the score/soundtrack to a TV show or film?</span><br />
<br />
I doubt it.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">66. Worst song you've heard recently?</span><br />
<br />
I'm so sick of AutoTune. Anything that has been AutoTuned.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">67. Do you reach any kind of personal catharsis when it comes to songwriting/performing?</span><br />
<br />
Sometimes the only thing that makes me feel better is turning up my distortion pedal and playing nothing but noise for ten or fifteen minutes. Just sheets and sheets of terrible noise, long-delayed and let to repeat until it slowly fades itself out.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">68. Favorite interview you've ever been a part of (aside from this one, obviously)?</span><br />
<br />
My first Aleatory was with <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory-2-gotye.html">Gotye</a>, who is incredibly funny and kind. I hate to pick favorites, but getting back great responses from my very first interviewee felt like a wonderful validation of the site and its principles.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">69. There's got to be one: who has been your craziest fan?</span><br />
<br />
When I was little I had one of those visors with a solar-powered fan on it. It had a hole cut in the brim and the fan was supposed to keep your head cool, but my hair is too thick and it never really worked. Actually, I've changed my mind: that's the least rock star thing I've ever done — worn that hat.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">70. What is a personal belief you hold that you would fight for to the death?</span><br />
<br />
I'm trying to think of one, but "fight for to the death" keeps tripping me up. There are some things I feel strongly about, but I'm much more of a "let's agree to disagree, then" kind of guy than one who would fight somebody. Not even to the bloody nose, or to the sort-of bruised shoulder. Maybe that's what I would fight for to the death: non-violent interpersonal conflict resolution. Agree with that or I'll cut you.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">71. How well do you feel your music lends itself to remixing or being covered?</span><br />
<br />
You can cover one of my songs, that would be great. My songs are up for covering.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">72. A few years ago, Beck gave an interview for SPIN in which he lamented the glut of reality TV shows and blogs about musicians, wanting to know less details about their life because he felt they were more mysterious that way (he liked to envision Devo as living in a crazed art-deco pyramid when he was young, instead of just some guys in a tour bus). Do you feel that there's a lack of mystique out there for musicians in today's YouTube age? Do you feel your band carries any mystique?</span><br />
I feel there's less of a mystique about everything. If you look hard enough you can find information about whatever you want online. It's great for learning and discovery, but sometimes the mystery is what you really want after all. I often find myself somewhat disappointed when I see a picture of an artist or writer for the first time, because I always imagined them as different somehow. I guess it's the difference between "an" answer and the correct one.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">73. Are there any songs that you're working on right now?</span><br />
<br />
Always. I get stuck sometimes, but it's nice to have a constant problem to mull over.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">74. Better to burn out or to fade away?</span><br />
<br />
Ideally it's a series of slow fades, marked by flares of brilliance every half-decade or so to let people know you're still alive. That way you don't get used up all at once, and you don't get diminishing returns on your talent by churning out albums (books, whatever) you haven't given enough time to. Deadlines are the worst thing that ever happened to art.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">75. Very first song that you ever wrote?</span><br />
<br />
I remember when I was six or seven I re-wrote a version of the Christmas carol "We Three Kings" as "We Three Cats." They were on a journey from the Orient to bring baby Jesus catnip and rubber mice. Sadly the song has been lost.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">76. Dream collaboration?</span><br />
<br />
Someday I hope to get married to a woman who is far more musically-inclined than myself, and the two of us can write songs together. Other than my imaginary dream girl? Let's go with Burial. The music we make is nothing like one another's, but I'd love to be one of his vocal samples.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">77. What was the hardest part about recording your current release?</span><br />
<br />
Right now: finding a singer.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">78. Your life has been reduced to a bumper sticker: what does it say?</span><br />
<br />
It probably wouldn't say anything, it'd just look like a Band-Aid to cover up holes in your fender.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">79. Best concert you've ever been to?</span><br />
<br />
Yellow Swans, Frog Eyes, and Xiu Xiu at the Bottom Lounge. All three had absolutely incredible sets. I've seen Xiu Xiu several times, and this was by far their best. They could have been by themselves and it would have been one of the best shows I've been to, but the others were way more than just icing. Yellow Swans just played one fifteen-minute song and it absolutely destroyed, we all shouted for an encore.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">80. Worst run-in with the law (to date)?</span><br />
<br />
Speeding tickets? I got pulled over last week by the nicest police officer ever, though. Very very friendly, courteous, explained everything very politely, and only gave me a warning. Plus, the whole stop was over in three or four minutes.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">81. If you could sync an album of yours to a movie (like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz), what movie would it be?</span><br />
<br />
I would love to sync something up with <span style="font-style: italic;">Werckmeister Harmonies</span>, but the music in that film is so incredible already that, really, I just wish I could write scores like Mihály Vig.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">82. Current pop song that you would file under "guilty pleasure"?</span><br />
<br />
I've been listening to a lot of Tom Petty lately. I do love me some "Break Down."<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">83. Have you ever thought of pulling a Jack White-styled Raconteurs/White Stripes thing and be in multiple bands at once? If so, what would the other band sound like?</span><br />
<br />
Sure, if I had the time I'd play music with anyone who wanted me around. We could sound like anything in the world, really. I'm very flexible.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">84. Most disappointing concert you ever attended?</span><br />
<br />
Alien Ant Farm played at Oyster Fest in Chicago one year. It was outside on the street and kids were moshing (this is back when "Smooth Criminal" and Michael Jackson was still alive, but probably spinning in his grave regardless) and I guess this girl fell down and got her hand stepped on. She pulled her hand back and got her pinky ripped right off. The show stopped for a good ten minutes while the medical people searched for it, but they never did find her finger. So, that, plus it was Alien Ant Farm, who I was only watching because Cake was going to be up next, and it was just a terrible show. (To make matters worse, we didn't get to see Cake, either.)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">85. What's the biggest mistake you've made that you inadvertently learned a great lesson from?</span><br />
<br />
I try and learn something from all of my mistakes, so that when I do it again I'll remember, "Oh, yeah, I wasn't going to do that anymore." It's not that I stop making the same mistakes, but after a while I realize going into it that I shouldn't.<br />
<br />
Like with milkshakes. I'm sort of lactose intolerant, but I really like milkshakes, and sometimes I'm okay with accepting that I'm going to have an awful stomach ache later if I have a milkshake now. This is pretty much my philosophy on art and relationships, too.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">86. With Radiohead's In Rainbows release </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">and Nine Inch Nails doing boffo business with his online releases, do you see yourself ever doing some alterative kind of release for any of your future projects?</span><br />
<br />
I like giving things away. I can't imagine ever charging someone $15 for a CD of songs I've written. At some point, if I ever release music on a scale larger than four people or so, I'll definitely be considering alternative distribution options.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">87. Ultimately, you will want to be remembered as...</span><br />
<br />
It is my fondest hope that no one hears of my death and says, "Well, he was kind of a dick anyway."<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">88. What's your deepest source for musical inspiration?</span><br />
<br />
Working around my physical limitations.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">89. You just died. I'm sorry. Fortunately, your will states that you want very specific music to be played at your funeral. What did you choose?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong></strong><br />
I really want a jazz funeral, complete with hymn singing and dirges, lots of low brass and bari sax. If someone can make that happen, notify my next of kin.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">90. Sexiest thing about you?</span><br />
<br />
I have a great chin.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">91. Which single album should be in everybody's home?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">The Velvet Underground and Nico</span>. Though by this point, I think most people I know do have this in their home.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">92. Which venue are you dying to play but have not yet had the chance to?</span><br />
<br />
The Metro in Chicago. It's designed so well, there truly are no bad seats in the house. Personally I'm a big fan of the balcony.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">93. Longest show you ever played? What was different?</span><br />
<br />
Again, I'm going to have to fall back on marching band: there was this awful show we did every year -- I think it was the Sycamore Pumpkin Fest, which is in October -- but for some reason this one year it was like 90 degrees or something, and we were all in our heavy wool uniforms, marching for several miles, carrying hot, heavy brass instruments, trying not to faint.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">94. What's your hardest song to replicate live?</span><br />
<br />
One of the songs Evan and I recorded involved him using my cello bow on my guitar, and then, after that was tracked out, he gave the guitar and bow to me and I recorded an overdub, without listening to what he had just laid down. The fact that it's not utter crap is what's most surprising, but I have no idea how we'd replicate that on stage.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">95. Do you ever read your own reviews?</span><br />
<br />
I proofread my reviews sometimes.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">96. The one thing that no one knows about you (yet)?</span><br />
<br />
I keep everything. Everything. Paper-bag puppets I made in fifth grade, all the notes my high school girlfriend ever wrote me, paper crowns from Medieval Times (three of them: red, yellow, and black-and-white checkered), cool rocks I find. There's a empty can of chrysanthemum tea under the passenger seat of my car right now because I wanted to remember that one of its ingredients is "aqueous extract of chrysanthemum." I keep everything.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">97. Your label wants to do a music video for a song off your album, and have inexplicably procured $1,000,000 as a budget, then decide that you'd best direct the visual accompaniment to your own music. What song do you choose, and what will your video look like?</span><br />
<br />
The video would be a montage of clips of me spending $1,000,000 within the length of the song, with a little ticker in the corner showing how much I've spent. It'd be like <span style="font-style: italic;">Brewster's Millions</span> except I'd keep all the stuff.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">98. Would you say that there's somewhat of a political undertone to your music? If so, what motivates it?</span><br />
<br />
No, I don't think so. At least, not overtly. Personal politics, or morals, or ethics, whatever, informs everything, though.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">99. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?</span><br />
<br />
Depends on what the music's purpose is. If it's a song about having fun and making you money, sure, sell it to anyone who will pay for it. But if you look at your songs as works of art, or works striving to be art, commercializing them cheapens that, I think. I don't know, I just do the interviews.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">100. Even with the gradual decay of the B-side, most artists still have vaults of unreleased songs. What's in yours?</span><br />
<br />
Everything I've written can be considered a B-side. However, Evan came up with a song about gonnhorhea that I played tambourine on. If he won't tell you about that one, I sure as hell will.<br />
<br /></div>
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+++</div>
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And that's it for now! Come back and join us for another exciting year of interviews, Aleatories, and extreme randomness here, and only here, at Globecat!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7FGLm_ZUm67cF0Osmu6UkbBxaq3Hhd2zTATXmw-s-CazH7uWK2N7Q-_J3LrzWR56j44IhJF5nPpT_kSqQY_-cxhW0pJc4Zc5uYbLegMszvLQLPP37EKwJDrkB0DgOlPHtcumjC_3VyME/s1600-h/globecat_final_small.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348916059469528978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7FGLm_ZUm67cF0Osmu6UkbBxaq3Hhd2zTATXmw-s-CazH7uWK2N7Q-_J3LrzWR56j44IhJF5nPpT_kSqQY_-cxhW0pJc4Zc5uYbLegMszvLQLPP37EKwJDrkB0DgOlPHtcumjC_3VyME/s400/globecat_final_small.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 80px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 55px;" /></a>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-62423619757478811012009-06-11T22:09:00.005-05:002009-06-11T22:34:56.706-05:00INTERVIEW: The Hoot Hoots<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcW29kgqd1ueddb89GT26WuPXdsfyr0AzgbgplsOma2SWL4pA127omoqeNM28g3ygPqsMrOuqhAccKpvJ4-T-OIPrS3tgNbXgYCeDo0xtSf7dMysZOSSvCtvVS71nwKFOzYlJHKoVO8wZ/s1600-h/Hoot+Hoots+Interview.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcW29kgqd1ueddb89GT26WuPXdsfyr0AzgbgplsOma2SWL4pA127omoqeNM28g3ygPqsMrOuqhAccKpvJ4-T-OIPrS3tgNbXgYCeDo0xtSf7dMysZOSSvCtvVS71nwKFOzYlJHKoVO8wZ/s400/Hoot+Hoots+Interview.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346273152542609698" border="0" /></a><br />Remember this band name: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Hoot Hoots</span>.<br /><br />While the phrase gets tossed around a lot, these Beatle-esque psych-rockers out of Seattle are very much on the verge of becoming "the next great indie-rock band", as their feel-good melodies, complex song arrangements, and positively wild live shows seem to be signaling a very important message to would-be rockers everywhere: get over yourself and have some damn fun. In other words, "<a href="http://octagonal.org/%7Echristina/hoot/Cheer%20Up%20Suburban%20Kid.mp3">Cheer Up Suburban Kid</a>".<br /><br />Initially emerging out Illinois, the Hoot Hoots -- lead by singer/songwriter Adam Prairie, Animal-like drummer brother Chris, and trumpeter Christina Ellis -- have slowly been carving out a niche of optimistic guitar pop that's classic in structure but modern in attitude, their songs referencing everything from Calvin & Hobbes ("Transmogrified") to James Joyce ("Australopithecine") without ever lapsing in the emotional honesty department. With a successful underground EP (<span style="font-style: italic;">Less is More</span>) and a self-produced full-length (<a href="http://cdbaby.com/cd/hoothoots"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Truth ... Relatively Speaking</span></a>) to their credit, the Hoots have now migrated to the Northwest (along with bassist Geoff Brown and new guitarist Cooper Smith) and are getting ready to conquer the world all over again, starting with this summer's new <span style="font-style: italic;">Missle Teeth</span> EP and concluding with a full-length by the end of the year. No, they won't be faulted for lack of ambition ...<br /><br />Speaking with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span>, Head Hoot <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adam Prairie </span>gleefully dishes on how he's grown as a producer, the electronic-direction the band might be heading in, and his ideas for some delightfully controversial cover art in the semi-near future ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Adam, I remember once you told me you took a course in music production, and how what you learned within the first week made you rethink a lot of the production work you did on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Truth ... Relatively Speaking</span>. Listening to <span style="font-style: italic;">Missle Teeth</span>, everything sounds much richer, more fully-bodied, lots more "sonic details" in the mix. Fundamentally, what has changed about the way you produce your records?</span><br /><br />Better gear essentially. For our last album, it was me, a Apple G4 ibook, two somewhat shitty mic (one duct taped to a mic stand), and a two input audio interface from Edirol. Everything was one track at a time. I didn't want to do a low-quality job like that again, so I spent hours on eBay searching for good mics for cheap, and after a few months I had about 10 mics or so that were just infinitely better in terms of sound quality. Instead of Garage Band I'm using Pro Tools M-Powered now, which I sorta hate because of the propriety handicapping bullshit that they do.<br /><br />But besides the gear, I learned how to mic a drum set and guitar cab much more effectively. I actually put some thought into mic choice and placement before I hit record. Before I would just throw a mic down in front of an amp and just start playing. Plus, the final term of the Audio Production course I took at the University of Washington Extension was with Scott Colburn, who recorded the Animal Collective's <span style="font-style: italic;">Feels</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span>, two albums that I absolutely love. We recorded an EP for this Seattle band called Ghost Lobby during that term, and we recorded the core tracks (drums, bass, guitar, keyboard) with the whole band playing in one room. That's such a cool way to record. First of all it's quicker that way, and also the tracks we recorded had a tight, live feel to them. So yeah, both gear and watching Scott Colburn changed how I record... I guess I read Tape Op (which is a completely free, completely amazing recording mag) too, and I try out ideas from that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Of course, this is the second time you guys have recorded one of my personal favorites -- "Cheer Up Suburban Kid" -- and this is now the third version of "Transmogrified" you guys have laid to tape. The best part about these tracks, though, is how they're all so sonically different, the original version of "Transmogrified" from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Less is More</span> EP sounding virtually unregonizable in terms of texture to the hyper, colorful version that's heard here. Will there ever be "definitive versions" of these songs, or is the urge to tinker and perfect just too great for you guys?</span><br /><br />We decided to rerecord tunes from the last album for a couple reasons. One, we wanted to craft a pretty up tempo, in-your-face EP that still had some quirkiness to it, and those two songs fit the bill. Plus, I wanted another shot at recording "Cheer Up Suburban Kid" because I did a pretty awful job the first time. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, and the way I recorded that song the first time kinda makes me cringe. Also, Cooper Smith, our new lead guitarist, is bad ass! He has a tone and a manner of playing that really fills out those songs, and we wanted to feature that on this EP, mostly to give people a chance to hear how we sound right now, especially since our band members have changed a bit. I think I'm done rerecording "Transmogrified. I'm ready to move on to more tunes. We might put one old song on our upcoming full length album, which is in the works now, but for the most part I'm ready to get into new songs, new sounds.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>In terms of songwriting, the numerous chord changes of "Australopithecine" mark a quantum leap forward for you guys, like condensing prog-structures down into concise pop formats (this track reminds me a lot of Umphrey's McGee). What has changed in your musical approach between <span style="font-style: italic;">The Truth</span> and </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Missle Teeth</span>?</span><br /><br />We write songs as a band much more now. Before, I would record almost all the tracks, then I would teach the band how to play the song. Now, I record a rough demo so everybody can hear the changes, and then we get to work. As for numerous changes, that's something I've been into for a while ever since I heard The Unicorns and early Of Montreal. I have a pretty short attention span, so I get bored with my own songs if they don't change a lot chordally or texturally. I think what you're hearing in "Australopithecine" as well is the addition of more technical flourishes to the music. That's probably Cooper's influence. Like I said, he can fucking shred! And I think I have that as a tool in mind now when I write tunes. It is so freaking awesome to be in a band now where I'm comfortable letting the song grow as we practice it together.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>This isn't a question: I'm just giving props for the best <span style="font-style: italic;">Finnegan's Wake</span> reference I've heard to date.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrIVSyZ7oJpDAMjMHlTwhj9GxNTULkfszLlE0hua1KCE7gdRwXOdoU2vZQbbZyGWbeJLvG1yz55Nk8EsUP_STScXuBCFk0gcTS-MXVEODBEl6sZECkFPhTkxa1Kt58gJDNoWsfh1PEcdi/s1600-h/n24373734681_1648163_4300829.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrIVSyZ7oJpDAMjMHlTwhj9GxNTULkfszLlE0hua1KCE7gdRwXOdoU2vZQbbZyGWbeJLvG1yz55Nk8EsUP_STScXuBCFk0gcTS-MXVEODBEl6sZECkFPhTkxa1Kt58gJDNoWsfh1PEcdi/s320/n24373734681_1648163_4300829.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346279280371563506" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks. Kind of random, nerdy reference but I couldn't resist.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>The ending to "Zoo" might be the single most rocking thing you guys have ever done, almost moving into hard rock territory before being grace-noted by the horns at the end. Given your live reputation, how do you feel these new textures will work in a live context?</span><br /><br />Besides some of the extra atmospheric sounds on the EP, we recorded these tracks pretty close to how we play them live. These new textures are a big part of our live sound now, especially the additional chaos elements. I have this pedal called the Fuzz Factory from Zvex that is basically chaos in a can, and Cooper hand made his own version of it which he uses all the time live. Sometimes we wonder if we overdo the noise elements live, because we do not want to be known as a noise rock band at all. But really when it comes down to it, we just say, "Aw fuck it," and freak out. I don't think we get noisy enough to make our songs unmelodic or atonal. I just like crazy, whacked-out fuzz and feedback and glitchy noises as a texture.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Given how the Hoots are busy working on a full-length as well, this EP seems to be moving away from more of the deliberate minimalism that peppered some of your earlier work (I'm thinking specifically of "Vision Blurred Green" from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Truth</span>). What kind of sounds can we expect from the new album? Ultimately, what's the next direction that the Hoot Hoots are going to be taking?</span><br /><br />I'm really into MGMT, Merriwether Post Pavilion, and M.I.A. these days, so I think we're going to have some more electronic elements as we progress. Or at least more synth sounds. For now, I'm more interested in creating music with lots of shifting, rich sonic textures, so the minimalism of some of our earlier stuff might be something we drop for a while. I don't know though. Sometimes I pick up a guitar and write a song and it sounds fine with just voice and acoustic guitar. But more often than not these days, I hear much larger orchestrations when I write. So yeah, I think for our next album I want us to sound like some amalgam of our current sound with some more atmospheric drone and even more lush vocal textures.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Finally, so far in your guys' career thus far, what has been your biggest regret, and -- conversely -- what's been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br /><br />Couldn't really think of a regret.... I'm sure there's something I'd rather not do again.... but I know I am definitely proud of this EP. I think we created something that sound pretty damn good on a pretty low budget, and I worked really hard to try and make these recordings sound as professional as I could given the resources. Also, I think my most fond memory of playing live was at Knox College's Wallace Lounge when I returned for a week in January of 2007. The Hoot Hoots played a show at the end of that week after having a few feverish practices (we hadn't played together for a few months). The whole night was amazing, but ending the show with a bunch of friends and drunken pirates on stage surrounding us and singing with us, damn that was great! That's what we want to create here in Seattle, some fun, energetic shows wth plenty of chaos, tight musical precision, and a healthy dose of, for lack of better phrase, absurd gimmick. I'm totally comitted to establishing this band in Seattle right now. It's sort of my single driving goal right now. I have a day job right now that's all right, but it just pays the bills. This is what I want to be doing every day of the week. Oh I thought of a regret. Having our last album manufactured in Taiwan. They fucked up our printing and we didn't have our CD's for a show we were billing as a CD release party. So no Taiwan this time around. This next album is 100% American. It's gonna have fucking eagles and flags and George Bush, Dick Cheney, and John Ashcroft burning the Constitution and pissing on the ashes all over the cover.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://thehoothoots.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit the Hoot Hoots' official website</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-33248654255904050502009-06-07T20:25:00.004-05:002009-06-07T20:29:29.845-05:00OFF THE RECORDS: Evcat on NPR (again)!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxN0EEdBBGDTposML2L81zBgCthTTo_BbaVodu_2tY65pTl9Hf7H1tNNXuDmg7LT5WRDHKGfg8S4j4GsowFFy70RId8y5AXTe5z2WbGe8uJGPVB0S108MnMceke54dPetOG8gxeHT42VJB/s1600-h/Off+the+Records+7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxN0EEdBBGDTposML2L81zBgCthTTo_BbaVodu_2tY65pTl9Hf7H1tNNXuDmg7LT5WRDHKGfg8S4j4GsowFFy70RId8y5AXTe5z2WbGe8uJGPVB0S108MnMceke54dPetOG8gxeHT42VJB/s400/Off+the+Records+7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344762049621285234" border="0" /></a><br />It's happened again! Our own <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> wound up guesting on WNYC's iconic "Soundcheck" program again this week, discussing <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/special/section/lets-go-crazy-celebrating-25-years-of-purple-rain/">his recent massive <span style="font-style: italic;">Purple Rain</span> feature</a> currently running on PopMatters.com! Give it a listen in the player below, and stay tuned: more exciting interviews coming your way shortly!<br /><br /><br /><center><object width="350" height="36"><param name="movie" value="http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/mp3player.swf?config=http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/config_share.xml&file=http://www.wnyc.org/stream/xspf/133530"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/mp3player.swf?config=http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/config_share.xml&file=http://www.wnyc.org/stream/xspf/133530" id="WNYC_Mp3_Player_133530" name="WNYC_Mp3_Player_133530" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" wmode="transparent" width="350" height="36"></embed></object></center>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-59240734940736144682009-05-13T01:00:00.000-05:002009-05-13T01:00:00.186-05:00INTERVIEW: Akron/Family<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuFs5J0oE7mHC_q8fHvG4pho4J7bB6FCi_a4ywVWQQP6UcJVR6Jm35GxRZLv6EfxuD2EWI8smOb9d13gGR3QAzbp82Kf1loQo95c8t7KSNCwtiug_8M_fpcxjRWQc7ovtOacZPQFOZ0c2/s1600-h/AkFam+Iny.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuFs5J0oE7mHC_q8fHvG4pho4J7bB6FCi_a4ywVWQQP6UcJVR6Jm35GxRZLv6EfxuD2EWI8smOb9d13gGR3QAzbp82Kf1loQo95c8t7KSNCwtiug_8M_fpcxjRWQc7ovtOacZPQFOZ0c2/s400/AkFam+Iny.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334786954697037826" border="0" /></a><br />The guys in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Akron/Family</span> have changed. A lot.<br /><br />In just a few years time, America's favorite indie-freakout rockers -- when not releasing brilliant albums or giving the greatest live shows you could possibly imagine -- have had to deal with a lot of changes. First off, core AkAk'er Ryan Vanderhoof amicably parted ways with his long-time compadres in late 2007, making Akron/Family a trio for the first time in their professional career. Secondly, the band has switched from their long-time home of Young God Records to the newer, fresher Dead Oceans records. Then, to top it all off, they've decided to put out <span style="font-style: italic;">Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free</span> just this last week, and it's a fantastic, infinitely repeatable disc of pleasures both expected and surprising: it carries on great AkAk traditions (note the shouty folk-rocker "River") while also unveiling new elements of noise rock ("MBF") and breathy post-freakout piano closers ("Gravelly Moutains of the Moon"). It's a sprawling, stunning disc, and it hasn't left the Globecat stereo since its arrival. Yes, it's that good.<br /><br />Speaking to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> by phone, band member <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dana Janssen</span> speaks humbly about his new disc, explaining that the trio format has allowed the band to explore new sonic possibilities, and also hints at yet another furture collaboration with Globecat friends <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/07/aleatory-9-do-make-say-think.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do Make Say Think</span></a>. Dear friends, we give you ... the Ak!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><b>So let’s get to the quick of it: how was it like writing and recording without Ryan this time?</b><br /><br />On one hand I miss the strengths that he brought to the table, but on the other hand, the three of us have a lot more room to breathe and create and explore ideas between the three of us. It really gives us more space to interact. It’s also interesting ‘cos we’ve sort of had to, like, reinvent the band a little bit. <br /><br /><b>You guys have gone through a <i>lot</i> of changes these past few years. Is it weird not releasing something on Young Gods after all these years?</b><br /><br />[It seemed like] time to move on from that, you know? We’re actually happy to be working with somebody else, because -- I like Michael [Gira, Young Gods label head] and I really appreciate what he’s done for us -- but you’ve got to move on. It’s also nice to have a fresh team of people really pushing your record.<br /><br /><b>With all these changes you’ve had, would you go as far as to say that this is AkAk Mach II? More specifically, do you feel that this is the same band or a different, more streamlined version of it?</b><br /><br />It’s the same band -- well, it’s tough to say. The same spirit, I feel. A little different -- that’s to be expected. Not terribly different. I don’t know. <br /><br /><b>Well once you take it out on the road, then you’ll know.</b><br /><br />Yeah, we’ve been out doing the trio shows for a little while now. A bunch of residencies all over the place -- [they] went really well.<br /><br /><b>Well this gets us into talking about the latest disc, <i>Set ’Em Wild, Set ’Em Free</i>, which has everything from string and horn arrangements to classic AkAk freakouts. One of the most curious tracks, however, was the noise sludge that is “MBF” ...</b><br /><br />In [our] live show, there’s a lot of aspects of noise -- it’s just a part of the live experience that [isn’t] part of the albums; it rounds out the listeners ears in a way that they’ll be shocked when they come see it live, ‘cos I feel that the first record, when that came out, by the time we hit the road, we had a lot [of our songs] done in an apartment: it was very quiet. So there were limitations that that created. With this one, we had a rehearsal space with a whole band setup, so there were new tunes coming about. When [fans] hear the record, they expect that when they come to a show. For me personally, I’d enjoy it [more] if I expect to see something unexpected. [The song] allows people to see all 360 degrees of Akron/Family. That’s what we tried for. <br /><br /><b>So this is the record that fully integrates the orchestral stuff and folk/pastoral stuff and the crazy freakout stuff ...</b><br /><br />But not in being some sort of overarching “trying to fit too much into one” record. I feel like we did a pretty good job of navigating the emotions [of this record] fairly effortlessly. It has a very natural quality throughout -- as opposed to having it feel like you’re trying to say too much.<br /><br /><b>We’ve been having this debate here at Globecat about what the best song off the album is: I feel it’s “River” while Dave sides by “Gravelly Mountains of the Moon” -- is there a personal favorite amongst the band or just a song you’re really excited about playing live?</b><br /><br />Not really. [<i>Laughs.</i>] I like all of them, to be honest with you. <br /><br /><b>Given how this album is more sonically dense, how do you expect that to be integrated into you live shows?</b><br /><br />Depends on where we are, I guess. When we’re playing in New York, we have a horn section here, and on the West Coast, we have some friends who can play, so it’s sort of like a regional thing: depends on where we are. I’m blown away that it’s always just so fresh. We need fresh blood -- [it’s] a good inspiration to have. <br /><br /><b>Well you guys have also had a crazy year in terms of other projects as well, notably contributing your voices to the last Do Make Say Think album.</b><br /><br />We were in Toronto last month and did a [some] more voices for them.<br /><br /><b>For a new one?</b><br /><br />For their next record yeah -- it was pretty cool.<br /><br /><b>What was that experience like working with them?</b><br /><br />Oh those guys are great guys -- coolest people I know. I remember when I first came to New York, I had three CDs that I kept constantly in rotation all the time: My Bloody Valentine’s <i>Loveless</i>, Built to Spill’s <i>Keep It Like a Secret</i>, and Do Make’s <i>& Yet & Yet</i>. We went to a show early on and later found out that they liked some of our songs and we loved theirs -- it just blossomed from that point onward. But what great guys -- really sweet and really honest. <br /><br /><b>One last question: so far in your career, what’s been your biggest regret and -- conversely -- what’s been your proudest accomplishment?</b><br /><br />Proudest accomplishment: being able to play with some of our heroes, bands we really look up to. It’s such an incredible experience to play with these guys and learn from them. As for regrets: I don’t know. I don’t think we’ve had one. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><a href="http://www.akronfamily.com/"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit AkAk's official website here</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-50628154148888339252009-04-30T01:25:00.003-05:002009-04-30T01:46:23.412-05:00INTERVIEW: J.Ralph<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-ADbmR4GailJGzl6PgtJ_rBRzTTe6b_jAK2Mp6cG6Vx6s10qbIVlxz1h1gm20hbNqUakrwzvwAGsjGuaAizZkC1p3Fyli6Tcb4MMzKJePRGMzeH1mF_DXWxcfspjWC4qyinyOBV3J1wu/s1600-h/JRalph.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-ADbmR4GailJGzl6PgtJ_rBRzTTe6b_jAK2Mp6cG6Vx6s10qbIVlxz1h1gm20hbNqUakrwzvwAGsjGuaAizZkC1p3Fyli6Tcb4MMzKJePRGMzeH1mF_DXWxcfspjWC4qyinyOBV3J1wu/s400/JRalph.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330372135278025618" border="0" /></a><br />So <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> needs to get something out of the way: this may very well be the most important interview he's ever given in his life.<br /><br />You see, <span style="font-weight: bold;">J.Ralph</span> is an NYU film grad who, in the late-90s, camped out in an abandoned silent theater in NYC to record an album. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, the resulting disc -- <span style="font-style: italic;">Music to Mauzner By</span> -- proved to be an incredible musical tour-de-force, covering dance-rock, classical, jazz, mariachi music, gospel, classic rock, country, and disco in one go. During <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span>'s musical development as a kid, this album proved critical, as it introduced him to whole new worlds and, after listening to and reviewing thousands of albums in his life time, it remains <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/let-me-into-your-mind-how-jralph-changed-my-life/">his unquestioned Favorite Album of All-Time</a>. Hands down.<br /><br />Given that <span style="font-style: italic;">Mauzner</span> celebrated it's 10-year anniversary this past February, we figured it'd be a great time to catch up on J.Ralph, who's now busy scoring Oscar-winning movies, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXOrbo6DX9U">crafting music for Super Bowl ads</a>, and -- oh yeah -- working on that follow-up pop album. Without further ado, the unquestionable, inimitable, and amazing J.Ralph ...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>I remember my first introduction to you: the video for "<a href="http://www.mtv.com/videos/spy/58854/baby.jhtml">Baby</a>" when it was playing on The Box music video network. I even remember that video hitting #1, and even later finding out that it was you who directed it. Coming fresh out of film school, what did you find harder: working on your first album or working on a big-budget music video for your first single?</span><br />Both had their challenges but I would say working on the video. Seems like time was always running out. There were a lot of people to manage and we had this funny narrative that we wanted to convey.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>I think the simplest question needs to be asked right off here: what compelled you to make <span style="font-style: italic;">Music to Mauzner By</span>? I just find it fascinating how after NYU, you not only made an album, but you produced it yourself, played virtually every instrument, and wrote every damn note, even for the orchestral piece. It was a daring move, but it shows that <span style="font-style: italic;">Mauzner</span> really was a big labor of love ...</span><br />The record was the synthesis of all the years listening to music and messing with samplers, FX's and instruments. I was fascinated with sound the deconstruction of it. I really wanted to make something that was different from what I've heard. It was important to me that I went beyond what I had been exposed to. Smash everything together and [see] what came out.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>You were signed to Lava/Atlantic when </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Music to Mauzner By</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> came out -- what was your major-label experience like? If you had to do it again, would there be anything that you would do different?</span><br /><br />It was perfect. 100% very lucky. Jason Flom (the label president) was the most encouraging and supportive force there could ever be. He let us do anything and everything.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Though I remember much talk of you releasing <span style="font-style: italic;">Frame the Horse</span> sometime after <span style="font-style: italic;">Mauzner</span>, I find it fascinating that your official "follow up" was the largely orchestral Ill<span style="font-style: italic;">usionary Movements of Geraldine & Nazu</span>, later followed by the score to <span style="font-style: italic;">Lucky Number Slevin</span>. What are the challenges you encountered in working in an orchestral context (aside from the much-publicized fact that you couldn't actually read sheet music during the <span style="font-style: italic;">Illusionary</span> sessions)? </span><br />Just that you have to really prepare. The players do not play anything that isn't written. Everything must be on the page. It is very challenging and I really like that. The stakes are much higher. No room for error. When you have 75 people in a room at about $50,000 every couple of hours, you really need to know what you want.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Aside from your TV soundtrack work, you've remained relatively quiet in recent years -- what have you been up to? More importantly: what big projects can we look forward to from you?</span><br /><br />Just did the music for the Academy Award-winning documentary <span style="font-style: italic;">Man on Wire</span> (about Philippe Petits 1974 tight rope walk between the World Trade Center). Also we have been working on an album with Sizzla. And also, as always, still working on <span style="font-style: italic;">Frame the Horse</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Lastly: so far in your career -- what's been your biggest regret, and -- conversely -- what's been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br /><br />No regrets and never thought about a finished product long enough to contemplate if it was an accomplishment or not. Not knowing what is going to happen next is more important.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.jralph.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit J.Ralph's official website</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-31509884224980330432009-04-22T01:31:00.004-05:002009-04-22T02:00:12.692-05:00INTERVIEW: Fastball<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZDE-vfmkSbHS-Gdv1OuudR5PikV83gEfzK0y_XS2rna4Y2c3JMVVA4Nrx5NoGdB4kTildnYOrt7lDNfv83v4Fb8_4LKmQsFnVCppITeSw7cCag1gb-ALhORdinTyPtURkB6d3Dhijp0I/s1600-h/FastballInty.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZDE-vfmkSbHS-Gdv1OuudR5PikV83gEfzK0y_XS2rna4Y2c3JMVVA4Nrx5NoGdB4kTildnYOrt7lDNfv83v4Fb8_4LKmQsFnVCppITeSw7cCag1gb-ALhORdinTyPtURkB6d3Dhijp0I/s400/FastballInty.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327399948255995298" border="0" /></a><br />It's hard being the best retro-rock outfit working today.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fastball</span> are still probably best known for their late-90s hits "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0wfu3tOrtQ">The Way</a>" and "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd2aeZhu9xY">Out of My Head</a>", but true fans know that there was always something a little different about this group group. Their 2000 release <span style="font-style: italic;">The Harsh Light of Day</span> not only featured guest spots from Billy Preston and Brian Setzer, but featured insanely well-produced rock gems ("This is Not My Life") rubbing next to more ambient pop numbers ("Vampires"), showcasing a group of remarkable musical depth. By the time 2004's <span style="font-style: italic;">Keep Your Wig On</span> rolled around, the band had hired <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fountains of Wayne</span> pop guru Adam Schlesinger and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Spoon</span> knob-twidler Mike McCarthy to help produce, the band finally giving in to their power-pop calling to fantastic results.<br /><br />Then, there was a break. A long break, in fact. Nearly five years passed until the band put out <span style="font-style: italic;">Little White Lies</span>, a fantastically dry, concise and restrained pop nugget that simply does what Fastball does best these days: making nothing but retro-rocking stunners. The latest disc takes no prisoners, but features no excessive studio flourishes: it's just three guys rocking out the best way they know how, and -- especially in the hyperactive musical landscape we live now -- there's something genuinely refreshing about that. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> recently sat down with principal songwriters <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tony Scalzo</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles Zuniga</span> to talk about the new disc, their temporary hiatus, and, of course, "drinking all the bourbon in Kentucky."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>I always viewed you guys as pop traditionalists, but with this album you seem to fully go for that dry 70s guitar-pop sound, keeping in vein with the likes of early Cheap Trick and the first two Big Star albums. Is the slight retro bent of <span style="font-style: italic;">Little White Lies</span> totally intentional, or this just the natural way that Fastball's sound has moved in over time?</span><br /><br />MILES: I think retro is just part of our DNA. It's not a conscious decision. I like the sound of a Gibson guitar through a Fender Bassman turned way up loud. I like all kinds of music and I'm more than willing to experiment, but no matter how hard I try to make a Can album it always ends up sounding like Fastball.<br /><br />TONY: I don't think it was all that intentional to sound similar to bands we absolutely love. We love this album and we know it will satisfy our fans who expect a certain sound from us, though that wasn't quite the plan. I can promise that the next Fastball album will be a departure from the expected.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Simply put: why the break between <span style="font-style: italic;">Keep Your Wig On</span> and now?</span><br /><br />MILES: The infrastructure in the band looked like Chennai airport. I think Rykodisc spent $20 promoting the band. Our management was asleep. The band wasn't getting along. We decided to go our separate ways for awhile. I did two records with my other band, the Small Stars and Tony and Joey were also making music throughout that time. It turned out to be the best thing for us. We came back to the band eager to do Fastball again.<br /><br />TONY: It honestly doesn't seem like it was such a gap. Since the last album came out we have played many gigs and toured around quite a bit. We do lots of one-off type gigs plus short tours like when we went to Spain and South America. Miles did a couple of albums with his creation The Small Stars while I released approximately an album's worth of material with 3 solo EPs. We have been writing with other artists. I have been working with Jaret from Bowling For Soup. We wrote a new song that'll be on their next record. I guess one can lose track of time being all busy like that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Lyrically, I find that satement of personal denial/defiance that makes the heart of the song "Little White Lies" to be one of the most potent lines on the album ("[I] tell myself these little white lies / little white lies / that I don't miss you / [I] tell myself these little white lies / little white lies / and I just walk around / with my eyes closed"). It's almost like a half-breakup song, focusing instead on the self-denial that emerges post-relationship instead of broad-stroke emotions like "anger" or "freedom". 1> Why make this track the title of your album, and 2> what -- from a writing perspective -- fascinates you most about dissecting relationships?</span><br /><br />MILES: That song is a relationship song on the surface but it really came out of the denial we engage in as human beings on a daily basis. We lie to ourselves all the time. They don't call it the ugly truth for nothing. Usually, we're quite happy to be told what we want to hear.<br /><br />TONY: Everybody can relate to it because we all do it: lie to ourselves. It's what our brains do best. We convince ourselves of all sorts of realities, don't we?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>In looking at earlier tracks like "Out of My Head" and "This Is Not My Life", there seems to be a running theme of personal identity crisis (or at least a sense of longing nostalgia) that manifests itself in your songs (with this album, you don't want to go to "Rampart St." no more as just on example). Even during "We'll Always Have Paris", you note how "love is getting harder to find". Though some would call this pessimism, I almost feel like the sentiments are balanced out by the energetic music you frame your songs with. How would you define your worldview and how does it apply specifically to your lyrics?</span><br /><br />MILES: I am fascinated by fame and how it's a supposed cure-all for the human condition. It's replaced religion as the opiate of the masses. In "We'll Always Have Paris", I'm singing about someone who doesn't want to look in the mirror. They want to party, because it takes their mind off how spiritually bankrupt they are. I have some experience in this arena. <br /><br />TONY: I think we need a professional to sort out most of these lyrics. I just haven't the time or the wear-with-all but I'm sure glad they got written!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Do you ever feel haunted by "The Way" at all?</span><br /><br />MILES: I guess if you can call hearing your song on the radio 10 years after the fact haunted, then yes. People act like "The Way" is an albatross around our neck but to paraphrase Roberto Clemente, "The Way" has been very, very good to us.<br /><br />TONY: I am never haunted by "The Way" in a negative sense because the song has brought about a good many things and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to write it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">>>Finally, so far in your career, what's been your biggest regret, and -- conversely -- what's been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br /><br />MILES: Do I wish I had worked harder when things were really popping instead of drinking all the bourbon in Kentucky and staying up all night with various women who's names I can't recall? Yes. But we're making better music than we ever have and we have a couple of songs that will be on the radio forever.<br /><br />TONY: Regrets, I've had a few... It's awesome to still be a band after 15 years. My life has changed in oh, so many ways. I have climbed the highest mountains, ... and so forth.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.fastballtheband.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit Fastball's official website</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-74827094973398209162009-03-19T00:09:00.004-05:002009-03-19T00:37:25.001-05:00ALEATORY #23: Japancakes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxLfmfM6LPh8EYK9-x20D0u1AhstPAWNGoWDg63LutkUG_ZnuvfJ3KcV0oshtphVrrWzK1UlLcYJepoz9F4uO8kCLbQVzz54qkdc7U8SRAqi66_l8Cwpi0wDF098XPkV1OLdP5aIS5fMr/s1600-h/Japancakes.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxLfmfM6LPh8EYK9-x20D0u1AhstPAWNGoWDg63LutkUG_ZnuvfJ3KcV0oshtphVrrWzK1UlLcYJepoz9F4uO8kCLbQVzz54qkdc7U8SRAqi66_l8Cwpi0wDF098XPkV1OLdP5aIS5fMr/s400/Japancakes.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314768728681451682" border="0" /></a>Though he's said it here before, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Davecat</span> feels it's worth repeating: a band's name can make all the difference. If you've got a stupid name, people are going to be less likely to seek out and listen to your music, however great it is. However, if your name is as awesome as Athens, Georgia group <span style="font-weight: bold;">Japancakes</span>, your music practically sells itself. Knowing nothing about their 2001 album <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Sleepy Strange</span></span>, Davecat picked it up at the record store based on name alone and has been hooked ever since. Their most recent album, 2007's <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Loveless</span></span>, is an full-length, song-for-song cover of <span style="font-weight: bold;">My Bloody Valentine</span>'s classic shoegaze album, interpreted in their beautiful instrumental style with shimmery guitar, pedal steel, and cello. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brant Rackley</span>, Japancakes' drummer, took the time to speak with us last month, and we are honored to have one of our favorite bands as our 23rd <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aleatory</span></a>.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />+++</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />7. Favorite composer?</span><br /><br />I'm assuming for classical? If so, I'd say Bach. I remember the first time I heard Cantata No. 140 (Sleepers Wake). It's still stuck in my head. Something about the way the strings float around is amazing. It would be a good song to cover and make our own. Heather and Neff could work some magic on that one. As far as modern composers, I'd have to say Brian Eno. He just makes interesting music. I think I listened to Music for Airports for a year straight. Sometimes it's best to hear the music that's not there.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Favorite author?/Favorite book?</span><br /><br />I can't sit still long enough to read much, classic ADHD stuff. I do like reading David Sedaris books. His stories are hilarious. Being able to be that honest about family and yourself is quite a feat. I need the number of his therapist. Favorite book(s), All the President's Men, any Dr. Suess, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I have two kids, so most of my reading these days consists of children's books. I'm a big fan of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">9. Favorite song to start (or end) a mixtape with?</span><br /><br />Starting song is a toss up between R.E.M. "Harborcoat" and Stevie Wonder "Living for the City". Ending song is toss up between Aretha Franklin "Ain't No Way" and Superchunk "Hyper Enough", the first one makes you long for more, and the second gets you all jacked up and ready to go do something.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Favorite exhibit or subject at the museum?</span><br /><br />Andy Goldsworthy exhibit. He makes some of the coolest art I've ever seen. The patience that guy has is insane. If you've never seen his work I would highly recommend checking it out. Also, watch "Rivers and Tides", it's a documentary about him and his work. I can't really explain it without sounding like a babbling idiot, but to me it's simple and familiar in an awesome and completely foreign way?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Favorite pick-up line?</span><br /><br />Do you know of anything that will get blood out of a clownsuit?<br />I'm married...it worked once.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">21. Favorite album(s) from the past year?</span><br /><br />I liked:<br /><ul><li>Bon Iver - <span style="font-style: italic;">For Emma, Forever Ago</span>. Very stripped down simple record, totally full though.</li><li>TV on the Radio - <span style="font-style: italic;">Dear Science</span>. These dudes simply do some cool stuff with music.</li><li>David Byrne and Brian Eno - <span style="font-style: italic;">Everything that Happens will Happen Today</span>. This record feels good. Picking out all the little loops, blips, and blurbs in this is amusing to me.</li><li>Girl Talk - <span style="font-style: italic;">Feed The Animals</span>. Listening to this is like playing Musical Jeopardy. Very creative. Although I can't listen to it too much.</li></ul><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">26. Favorite badass?</span><br /><br />Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Every since I was a kid I wanted to be this guy. I got a thing for the bumbling detective.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Favorite chord/chord progression?</span><br /><br />I got nothing for you on this one. I deal in simplicity, you know, pick up drumstick-hit drum.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">28. What instrument would you most like to learn to play?</span><br /><br />Piano, or anything other than drums really, but mostly piano.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">29. Who do you wish more people were listening to?</span><br /><br />Globally? Each other. Musically? Japancakes, every little bit helps.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">32. Best thing you learned this week/month?</span><br /><br />That the kind of UFO's that exist in my daughter's world, are fart-powered and they are only interested in collecting human underpants. She's a genius.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">35. What's the best place you've randomly discovered while on tour?</span><br /><br />We played some shows in France for the Sleepy Strange album. We were in Paris for a few days of the tour and there was a chocolate shop down the street from our hotel that was fucking great. I think it was a mother and daughter who owned/ran it. Every time we would go in there they would let us try all the new chocolates for the day. If you could marry a chocolate shop, I would. It just so happens that we also randomly discovered that Paris is the best place to; have your bass player step in dog shit (aprrox. 3-4 times in one day), chocolate bars filled with liquor, and one of the most hilarious clown paintings of all time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">41. If you could go anywhere in the universe, where would it be?</span><br /><br />Where ever those UFO's my daughter draws are from. That place has got to be hilarious.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">47. Biggest fear?</span><br /><br />Although it's not very likely, being trapped under ice. That would be fucking terrifying, especially if you could see someone trying to help you. Realistically, something happening to my kids. I tend to freak out a little bit whenever I have to back out of my driveway. I have this horrible feeling that I'm going to back over one of my kids.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">51. What are you currently obsessed with?</span><br /><br />Gummy Coke Bottles. Fucking delicious.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">52. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation?</span><br /><br />This question doesn't apply to me. I only pretend it's my full-time job. Over-thinking and under-doing is my full-time occupation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">66. Worst song you've heard recently?</span><br /><br />Anything by Kid Rock or Katy Perry. I appreciate "what" they do and they're obviously hard workers. I just don't get it. However, Jimmy Buffet is my least favorite ever, of all time, ever.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">68. Favorite interview you've ever been a part of (aside from this one, obviously)?</span><br /><br />We were interviewed in a van, in a parking lot on the Seine in Paris. It was cold, crowded, and hilarious.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">69. There's got to be one: who has been your craziest fan?</span><br /><br />Two come to mind. There was a guy in France who heckled the shit out of us. It was insanely funny though because he just spouted out the only bad words he knew in English. He'd yell stuff like "monkey shit" "I shit on your piss" "I suck your piss" Really funny, then he stumbled outside while we were loading up and knocked over a mirror I bought over there and broke it. Douchebag.<br /><br />The other dude was in Athens. He hopped up on stage in a green monkey costume and just started playing the harmonica into the mic. Everyone in the band thought he knew one of us and it was just a friend having some fun. Turned out to be some random fan who thought his terrible harmonica playing would be a nice addition to our music. Again, total douchebag.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">88. What's your deepest source for musical inspiration?</span><br /><br />People trying. Hard to explain. I like to see people trying. Just anything. Something new, kids learning to walk, problem solving and determination type stuff.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.japancakesmusic.com/">Visit Japancakes' website</a>.<br /></div></div>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-55464169472192815482009-03-05T18:11:00.004-06:002009-03-05T18:49:05.967-06:00INTERVIEW: Of Great and Mortal Men<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjKUqkcMrBD5wy-q1OTf1qhgf64jX1LVnU6wMm9guLa0WUhgFoQXN9OMJikrQkQYYDcybMHQ8I2e_tapGFGzWwBtL4UEcDN_oS_Z84mubyXlAmluNp61qJo0l-_coiTbl7Js1fgVyyZd-3/s1600-h/OGAMM.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309865221173129266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjKUqkcMrBD5wy-q1OTf1qhgf64jX1LVnU6wMm9guLa0WUhgFoQXN9OMJikrQkQYYDcybMHQ8I2e_tapGFGzWwBtL4UEcDN_oS_Z84mubyXlAmluNp61qJo0l-_coiTbl7Js1fgVyyZd-3/s400/OGAMM.bmp" border="0" /></a>Many people have heard of <strong>NaNoWriMo </strong>-- <a href="http://nanowrimo.org/">National Novel Writing Month</a>, which takes place every November and just celebrated its 10th year in 2008 -- but did you know it has a musical cousin? <strong>February Album Writing Month</strong> (<a href="http://fawm.org/">FAWM</a>) just got wrapped up, challenging musicians to write 14 songs over 28 days, and while one can imagine how much chaff such an endeavor must produce almost by nature, you shouldn't throw the wheat out with the bathwater.<br /><br /><strong>J. Matthew Gerken</strong>, <strong>Christian Kiefer</strong>, and <strong>Jefferson Pitcher</strong> teamed up for last year's FAWM, taking the challenge one step further: over the course of a month, between them they would write a song for each and every President of the United States of America. Realizing they were onto something great, the three sent their songs out and got some of their favorite indie musicians -- <strong>Alan Sparhawk</strong> of Low, <strong>Mark Kozelek</strong> of Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon, (Smog)'s <strong>Bill Callahan</strong>, <strong>Califone</strong>, Xiu Xiu's <strong>Jaime Stewart</strong>, etc. -- to play on the tracks. The result -- <strong>Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies</strong> -- is as exciting to listen to as it is informative and an eye-opening look into the lives of these great, mortal men.<br /><br /><div align="left"><strong>Davecat</strong> was extremely fortunate to be able to talk with each of the three songwriters about the project, out as a three-disc set from <strong>Standard Recording Company</strong> -- and now including a 44th song for President Obama.<br /></div><div align="center">+++</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="left"><strong></strong> </div><div align="left"><strong>>>>> Christian is a history teacher, but what (if any) background do Jefferson and Matthew have in US history?</strong><br /><br />CHRISTIAN: I should probably note that I’m not actually a history teacher, although I do a fair amount of history-related reading in my classes. My graduate work is in American literature and I’m currently teaching English (rhetoric, writing, and literature) for Stanford University’s cutting edge Education Program for Gifted Youth, Online High School. My students are brilliant and it keeps me on my intellectual toes working with them.<br /><br />JEFFERSON: I do not necessarily have a “formal” background in American History, though my undergraduate degree is in American Studies, and I have a longstanding interest in history. I think more important in the case of this project, rather than any strong ties to an academic path in history, was simply our inquisitiveness about the subject matter. History of the presidents is arguably about myth and popular culture as much as it is about the formal discourse of history (at least in the greater cultural sense) so a curious mind, a willingness to do a bit of research, and a longing to examine the way in which history is told was all relevant. My graduate work was an MFA in studio art, and while critical theory was present in that, I is, I think, wholly unrelated to this sort of history.<br /><br />MATTHEW: I studied an obtuse brand of economic and social theory known as historical materialism as a part of my undergraduate degree in Urban Geography and Political Science. It is not really history as people normally think of it, but a certain lens for viewing the world, based in part on history (especially since the industrial revolution). Partly as a result of this project, I started to read more US history books, especially those with presidential themes. Actually, I think the degree to which one is interested in history might be a pretty good barometer for me to use in identifying new friends. I think I would naturally gravitate toward people that have at least some interest in history and away from people showing no such interest. Wow, I got way off topic there!<br /><br /><strong>>>>> How were you able to line up so many popular indie musicians for the album? Were there a lot of personal connections, or did the idea to include others come later in the project's conception?</strong><br /><br />CHRISTIAN: The project is somewhat amazing to me for this reason. Much of it was connections via friends of friends, and a few labels were very, very kind in helping us making new connections with bands and musicians we love. We knew pretty early on that we wanted to include some guest artists. In particular, I was aware that I was doing an Alan Sparhawk-imitation when I was singing Eisenhower for the first time. So when it came time to do the real recordings (I mean post-demo stage) it seemed natural to ask Alan if he would do it. We’re quite fortunate to have learned that musicians really want to make music. Nearly everyone we asked to share their time with us was quite willing to do so. I’m still amazed by that, although I probably should not be. Musicians are good people. I’ll leave Jefferson to the next part…<br /><br /><strong>>>>> Were any of the songs written specifically to be sung by the artists that perform them on the album? I ask because in some cases (such as the John Tyler song "Hindsight Falls On Deaf Ears" with Bill Callahan) the performance seems so completely suited to the song that it sounds they could have written it themselves for one of their own albums. Was there any collaboration with the performers as far as arrangement of the songs was concerned?</strong><br /><br />JEFFERSON: None of the songs were written with any specific performers in mind, and only a handful changed at all from the time of the original demos. We wrote the demos as a part of a songwriting challenge called FAWM (fawm.org) in which one writes fourteen songs in twenty-eight days (February). Because of the nature of the songwriting, we felt that we wanted to stay as “true” as possible to the idea from a compositional standpoint. That said, as guests joined the project, we were certainly open to some degree of change in the arrangements. The songs that standout the most to me, as having diverted from the original and having been collaborative are Coolidge which changed a fair amount when Jim Putnam (Radar Bros.) began working with it, Lyndon Johnson which Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden) re-arranged a bit and added lyrics to, and Wilson which Kiefer basically re-wrote when Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) got involved.<br /><br />CHRISTIAN: I’m a huge, huge fan of the Staple Singers so my original demo of Tyler was basically me trying to be Roebuck (“Pops” to his friends and family). I tried to get some of the folks from Ollabelle to sing some of their harmonies on it but that didn’t work out. Bill Callahan was a long shot but it turned out he was interested in doing it. Interestingly, out of the entire project, Callahan is the only guy I had no direct contact with whatsoever; everything with him was through kind folks at Drag City. It’s just a transformational performance from him—really mindblowing in every way and we’re very fortunate that he had the time and inclination to do it.<br /><br /><strong>>>>> Speaking of individual songs, I'd like to know more about the (creepy) Woodrow Wilson song "A Life Among Men" featuring Jaime Stewart of Xiu Xiu. Looking through the impressive guest list of artists for this project -- Callahan, Califone, Sparhawk and Kozelek, etc. -- Stewart seems to be the odd man out (in the best way possible, of course). How did he wind up attached to the project, and to "A Life Among Men" specifically?</strong><br /><br />CHRISTIAN: Jamie Stewart has one of the most distinctive and heart-wrenching voices in music today. Having that voice on this project was very important to me. Turns out his sister is a history teacher and he felt therefore obligated to be a part of our weird history lesson. We pitched a few songs his way and he decided that Wilson was the only one he could really pull off. The original version we sent him was kind of a heavy Pink Floyd trip, but once we got his vocal back (in the mail) I sat and re-configured and re-produced the track so that his voice was really placed at the forefront. I didn’t intend to make a pseudo-Xiu Xiu track out of it, but I fear that’s what I did. Sometimes it’s difficult to avoid one’s influences.<br /><br /><strong>>>>> "Someone to Wake," the 44th song in the 43-song series, was written after Barack Obama's election this November. Had you given any thought before the election what John McCain's song would sound like, had things gone the other way?<br /></strong><br />JEFFERSON: I was the one slated to write a song for McCain had he won, and the task was indeed difficult. I didn’t want to take the easy route of writing something disarmingly negative because I didn’t like him politically. A few years ago, I watched a film by director Werner Herzog called Little Dieter Needs to Fly, which is about a Vietnam Veteran who was in a prison camp for quite some time. I was fascinated by the extremity of his situation, and the way in which I believe humans can resort to a much more biologically survivalist mode of survival in extreme situations. As much as I didn’t like the fact that McCain’s war heroism came into the election rhetoric, I was fascinated by what it must have been like to go through that experience. So the demo I had decided on was a song about how he was proud of himself for having endured. Of course that doesn’t qualify him to be president in any way, and I didn’t want to write about it politically. I wrote about it in the first person, from a very emotional standpoint. Had it seen the light of day, I think it was sounding something like a slow, but loud Sonic Youth song.<br /><br /><strong>>>>> On a related note, the three of you just did a pre-Inauguration show in DC. What was it like, being in the captial during all the Inauguration festivities? Any good Inauguration stories?<br /></strong><br />MATTHEW: Yes, we had a big show at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue downtown, a<br />venue that has lectures as well as great musical performances. It was a beautiful and ornate building and we had this giant light show and videos tied to the presidential music for an eye-candy overload. We invited many east coast and midwest based musicians to "cover" songs from "Of Great and Mortal Men," and I, for one, was blown away by the quality of the guest performances. The three of us also got to sing a couple of our tunes to a large crowd of enthusiastic and attentive people. By the Saturday before inauguration, the City was really beginning to fill up and there were tons of parties and events all around the area, which served as "competition" for our event. We spent pretty much all day at the venue rehearsing, meeting the guest musicians as they would arrive, and otherwise preparing for the event. By the time we were finished with the show, we walked down the block to grab a drink, and it was very clear that we had some "catching up" to do -- there were stumbling, overjoyed people all over the streets of Washington. To me, there was a palpable buzz in the air, too. By most accounts, this was the largest and happiest inauguration gathering in history. It was wonderful to be tangentially associated with it.<br /><br /><strong>>>>> Were you surprised by the takes on some of the presidents that your colleagues came up with? Did anyone write an alternate song for any of the presidents?</strong><br /><br />MATTHEW: These United States, a great Washington DC based band, did a very cool, very low-fi version of John Adams. For some of the artists, we would send them the song and they would sing over it or play over it and send it back. For others, there was a wholescale re-recording of the song and sometimes arrangement changes. These United States' version was very surprising to me, and was very different from the original. I ended up wanting to keep both textures, and therefore the cut that is on the record features their version at the beginning and end of the cut and my version in the middle. Speaking of These United States, they played an unbelievable opening set at the show in Washington and also covered the song about Taylor ("Rough and Ready") at this show. They absolutely killed! What a talented bunch of people!<br /><br /><strong>>>>> Who are your individual favorite presidents (and why)?</strong><br /><br />MATTHEW: This is a difficult question. Part of the beauty of them is that they all had flaws... some more than others. Probably Abraham Lincoln did the most overall amount of good, of all our presidents thusfar. Teddy Roosevelt was a great US President, making important strides in land conservation and trust-busting.<br /><br />JEFFERSON: This is a difficult question, because so much of our knowledge about the presidents is based in a very incomplete reading (and understanding) of history. Though a flawed man in many ways, I would have to say Thomas Jefferson, primarily because of his thoughts on both the principles of democracy (I think he would be rather shocked and disgusted by the degree to which those principles have been eroded in modern politics) and education. His ideals in both of those areas are still entirely relevant if not needed today.<br /><br /><strong>>>>> What are some of the best presidential facts you learned that didn't make their way into the songs?<br /></strong><br />MATTHEW: Gerald Ford was an All-American center for the University of Michigan (football) and used to request that aides wake him up in the middle of the night if necessary (while traveling abroad) to tell him the Michigan-Ohio State score.<br /><br /><strong>>>>> Any plans for this coming February's Album Writing Month? Vice presidents? Kings and queens of England?</strong><br /><br />JEFFERSON: I’m afraid that with an eleven-month old son, it is about all I can do to get some food in me and a shower each day. I don’t plan to do the February Album Writing Month this year, though I am working on songs for a new record, just at a much slower pace. While I have deeply enjoyed the process of writing about this subject matter, I don’t want to become the guy who writes about presidents, kings, etc. While most, if not all, of my records have some very concrete themes, mostly borrowed and stolen from literature, I am far too interested in experimentation to stay on the same path. My new project is about the lack of water resources in a fictional town. So perhaps a mayor here and there.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="center">+++</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="left"><a href="http://ofgreatandmortalmen.wordpress.com/">View the Of Great and Mortal Men official blog</a>.</div><div align="left"><a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=393165284">Gerken / Kiefer / Pitcher on MySpace</a>.</div>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-69691081041497253812009-03-02T22:22:00.003-06:002009-03-03T18:54:36.632-06:00OFF THE RECORDS: Evcat on NPR!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgzmPA50i94H36ciEy3zSC368YuROqJUCiDTIVTFhhcO_KDGyy7FZakzAPGPsI4RGHqYuhwXio6GATTVmB1Bt7ty5CbGowpok56HROQStP5J4AV4GdZWKPTGyMHDe3LVO47EbydA1JRTL/s1600-h/Off+the+Records+7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgzmPA50i94H36ciEy3zSC368YuROqJUCiDTIVTFhhcO_KDGyy7FZakzAPGPsI4RGHqYuhwXio6GATTVmB1Bt7ty5CbGowpok56HROQStP5J4AV4GdZWKPTGyMHDe3LVO47EbydA1JRTL/s400/Off+the+Records+7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308812532523402482" border="0" /></a><br />Hey there, readers!<br /><br />We just wanted to let you know that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Evcat</span> is moving up in the world -- tomorrow (3.3.09), Evan is going to be on WNYC's Soundcheck program, participating in the weekly "smackdown" wherein two guests are brought in to discuss a current pop music topic. Evan, in case you didn't know, is the Associate Interviews Editor at PopMatters.com, and <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/71028-u2-no-line-on-the-horizon/">his review of the latest U2 album ran today</a>, which lead to his invite onto the show. He will be going toe-to-toe with Joe Levy, the current editor-in-chief of Blender magazine and the former managing editor of Rolling Stone. It will be a great listen either way, so be sure to tune in!<br /><br />UPDATE: Embedded below is the complete broadcast. Way to go, Evan!<br /><br /><center><object width="350" height="36"><param name="movie" value="http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/mp3player.swf?config=http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/config_share.xml&file=http://www.wnyc.org/stream/xspf/125195"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/mp3player.swf?config=http://www.wnyc.org/flashplayer/config_share.xml&file=http://www.wnyc.org/stream/xspf/125195" id="WNYC_Mp3_Player_125195" name="WNYC_Mp3_Player_125195" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" wmode="transparent" height="36" width="350"></embed></object></center>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-90251084491133925602009-02-25T00:33:00.008-06:002009-02-25T01:16:12.956-06:00ALEATORY #22: Fuck Buttons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtD8WlZrXZX66UV3oCdSUb5Gc7SvDNxWp611Y-G0jkdI5_xyOPnt2-Z68UcwhR3INxoWoaDDuODYkR10iqKI-5LLDXUoeNZCuxtsG6UvLYN8BaIHcBuoBtZ7f79BgMzXwmPLuHwWqHX2A5/s1600-h/Fuck+Buttons.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtD8WlZrXZX66UV3oCdSUb5Gc7SvDNxWp611Y-G0jkdI5_xyOPnt2-Z68UcwhR3INxoWoaDDuODYkR10iqKI-5LLDXUoeNZCuxtsG6UvLYN8BaIHcBuoBtZ7f79BgMzXwmPLuHwWqHX2A5/s400/Fuck+Buttons.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306624303775794114" border="0" /></a>Though it's a little late to say it, as everyone knows by now: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fuck Buttons</span>, the experimental duo of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Andrew Hung</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Benjamin John Power</span>, are intense. Even their name is intense. While probably a noun, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Davecat</span> has always hoped their name was an imperative, or a declaration of dissatisfaction with traditional clothing fasteners. With a sound somewhere between blistering noise and epic post-rock, the two electronically shredded their way into our hearts with their debut full-length <span style="font-style: italic;">Street Horrrsing</span> last year, and it's been zippers and velcro ever since. Both gentlemen took time out of their busy schedule to be the subject of our twenty-second <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html">Aleatory</a>, and we are, as always, extremely grateful.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />+++</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">AH = Andrew Hung<br />BP = Benjamin John Power<br /></div></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />1. Favorite word?<br /><br /></span>Musk (AH)<br />Transparent (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Favorite composer?</span><br /><br />Arvo Pärt (AH)<br />Jon Hassell (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">11. Favorite music video?</span><br /><br />Gihm's "Green Grass of Tunnel" (M<span class="Unicode">ú</span>m) cover (AH)<br />"Window Licker" Aphex Twin (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">12. Favorite band when you were in high school?</span><br /><br />Portishead (AH)<br />Nirvana (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">16. Favorite campfire story?</span><br /><br />The one about the girl's pet python that starved itself to eat her. (AH)<br />I don't know any good stories about campfires (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Favorite pick-up line?</span><br /><br />I bet you've got a fanny. (AH)<br />You and me and a bottle makes three (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">33. What's something you could teach anyone in an hour or less?</span><br /><br />How to emotionally manipulate your mother. (AH)<br />How to deal with being emotionally manipulated by one's mother (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">34. What's the best joke you heard recently?</span><br /><br />I went to a seafood disco last night... Pulled a mussel! (AH)<br />What did the 0 say to the 8? Nice belt! (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">38. What is your family like?</span><br /><br />Slowly deteriorating (AH)<br />All over the globe (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">40. What was your best/worst subject in school?</span><br /><br />Maths/History (respectively) (AH)<br />Science/art (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">43. What's the road ahead look like?</span><br /><br />Wonderous. (AH)<br />Exciting (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">46. Where do you keep things hidden? What do you keep hidden there?</span><br /><br />Under my ball sack. Peanuts. (AH)<br />I have nothing to hide, but if I did it would probably be down at the bottom of my bag. I'm pretty sure there are things in there that I didn't even know about (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">52. At what point did you realize that music was going to be your full-time occupation?<br /></span><br />I still haven't come to that conclusion. I believe that will be an answer that awaits me on my deathbed (not to be too morose, but it's true). (AH)<br />I knew this was wanted to do this for a living ever since I was young so to be able to do this is a priviledge (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">60. What's the worst show you've ever played? What would you have done different?</span><br /><br />The one where we played to an end of year student party. I should have cried onstage not off it. (AH)<br />We played to only our support band once in Birmingham and if I could do things differently I would have made sure there were at least a few people there (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">66. Worst song you've heard recently?</span><br /><br />The whole set of one of the bands I heard last night (AH)<br />That X Factor winner's cover of Hallelujah by Mr. Leonard Cohen (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">76. Dream collaboration?</span><br /><br />Kate Bush (AH)<br />Suicide (BP)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />79. Best concert you've ever been to?</span><br /><br />Sonic Youth Roundhouse 2008 (AH)<br />Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Camber Sands (BP)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />91. Which single album should be in everybody's home?</span><br /><br />Hounds of Love (AH)<br />Raw Power by Iggy & the Stooges (BP)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />99. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?</span><br /><br />I could write a book on my thoughts on this issue... but basically, 4x4 car ads = good, ethical companies = bad. (AH)<br />Uggg. It depends. Leave me alone (BP)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">100. Even with the gradual decay of the B-side, most artists still have vaults of unreleased songs. What's in yours?</span><br /><br />Peanuts. (AH)<br />Some of our first ever CDr's will probably never see the light of day. Just for me and Andy to drag out sometimes on reflect on how things have changed (BP)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://myspace.com/fuckbuttons">View Fuck Buttons' MySpace</a>.<br /><a href="http://www.atpfestival.com/Recordings/Artist/FuckButtons/Bio.php">View Fuck Buttons' bio at ATP Recordings</a>.<br /></div></div>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-85724766014499155322009-02-10T00:21:00.006-06:002009-02-11T10:32:26.492-06:00ALEATORY #21: dj BC<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh734V0TJbdcqAby9Ef04lIhb_eXUH3lv0XtbQ1gcpFZNx1a9ip73jol5gqOlA7Aw-e-C61PqQLNR-ZLIugv2KZ1ThNj7EMERKwI4QjQML-slP9BEhFr4vYsV-cIA_jQ2zJH34zRhVGYI8U/s1600-h/djbc.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh734V0TJbdcqAby9Ef04lIhb_eXUH3lv0XtbQ1gcpFZNx1a9ip73jol5gqOlA7Aw-e-C61PqQLNR-ZLIugv2KZ1ThNj7EMERKwI4QjQML-slP9BEhFr4vYsV-cIA_jQ2zJH34zRhVGYI8U/s400/djbc.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301578499398560402" border="0" /></a><br />Mashup King? America's favorite DJ? A man who is just grateful to do what he loves on a regular basis?<br /><br />It's hard to come up with a good title for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bob Cronin</span> (although he's more affectionately known as <span style="font-weight: bold;">DJ BC</span>). Yet Mashup King isn't a bad start. As the post-millenial craze of musical MP3 mashups was gradually turning into a ceritifed phenomenon, it was <span style="font-weight: bold;">DJ BC</span> who quietly began leading the pack with some innovative, controversy-stirring releases, starting with "The Beastles" (a famed Beatles/Beastie Boys mashup album) and -- shortly thereafter -- the innovative <span style="font-style: italic;">Glassbreaks</span> release, wherein rap artists found their words mixed in with beats created solely from Philip Glass samples. Though both projects have long been unavailable, this hasn't stopped Bob from becoming one of the most notable mashup DJs this side of <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/09/interview-girl-talk.html">Girl Talk</a>, and his latest release -- <a href="http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=155562&">a fully-legit remix collaboration</a> with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big D & the Kids Table</span> -- has even given him some rock cred as well. Now of course, comes his greatest challenge: mixing and matching up some answers with the latest Globecat <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html">Aleatory</a>, here talking about his desire to play the piano, being disappointed by Freddie Hubbard, and, of course, the sexiest thing about him.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Favorite piece of equipment?</span><br /><br />Pioneer CDJ 1000's (X 2) . These babies allow scratching and turntable-type manipulation of CDs (and hence any digital sound I can burn to Cd) which means the world to someone who works with CDs rather than vinyl. I also find them much easier to work with than vinyl on many levels. And they do more. Speed up with no pitch change ftw! (this is where I get endorsed by Pioneer and get free gear).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">12. Favorite band when you were in high school?</span><br /><br />The Replacements! I loved 'em. I was trying to be a punk rock type, generally. I liked gothy, punky, skater-y bands. The Cure, The Sex Pistols, Ramones, Bowie, The Smiths, The Clash, that sort of thing. But the 'mats were probably the top. I also was WAY into 60's music, like Led Zep, The Doors, The Beatles, CSNY, The Byrds, and so forth.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">13. Favorite Shakespearean play?</span><br /><br />Probably Hamlet? That's the one I remember the best. And it has ghosts. This is a strange question to ask a DJ.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">19. Favorite foreign film?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Withnail and I</span>. It's British, so perhaps not as foreign as some other choices. But it is truly wonderful and a cult classic in Britain. All Americans should watch it. Use the subtitles or turn it up, those muttering Brits are brutal to understand.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">28. What instrument would you most like to learn to play?</span><br /><br />Piano.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">29. Who do you wish more people were listening to?</span><br /><br />Me, and Big D and The Kids Table. We deserve massive success, free steaks and Abita beer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">38. What is your family like?</span><br /><br />Loud, funny, large and kinda goofy. With a new layer of babies sprouting.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">46. Where do you keep things hidden? What do you keep hidden there?</span><br /><br />If I told you, they would no longer be hidden. Duh!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">48. Biggest moment of triumph?</span><br /><br />Opening for Coolio's Boston date, and the release of "Strictly Mixed and Mashed" - a 100% legit album.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">55. You're curating a festival. If you could choose any two acts to open for you, who would they be?</span><br /><br />Sheesh... ANY 2? and they are opening for ME? This is a difficult question. I am tempted to pick sucky acts, and then I would look better. But then everyone would leave. I would have to say...here's four that I would love to even see perform live. Being on the same stage with them would be mind blowing.<br />-Stevie Wonder<br />-David Byrne with the Talking Heads<br />-P-Funk<br />-Reform the 1990's Brand New Heavies with all the guest rappers, ie Black Sheep, Pharcyde, Edo G, Kool G Rap, etc.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">56. Have you ever considered writing or producing for other artists?</span><br /><br />Yes, and I have done so - <a href="http://www.remixrevolution.com/">www.remixrevolution.com</a> features two records I worked on with Big D and The Kids Table. <span style="font-style: italic;">Strictly Mixed and Mashed</span> is a remix/mashup album I did with their music. <span style="font-style: italic;">Rude Remix Revolution</span> is a collection of others remixes and fan mixes and the like, which I compiled with the help of Dave McWane. I've also done officically sanctioned remixes for Heaven 17 (formerly Human League), The AKAs (feat Gym Class Heroes), Uncle Shaker, VBMN and Sonic Boom Six.<br /><br />Basically I want to do whatever I think will be fun, and hopefully win some listeners. And I hope that at some point, I will get a little interest and I can make my own record a la Mark Ronson.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">66. Worst song you've heard recently?</span><br /><br />The Free Credit Report bullshits. I want to kill them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">70. What is a personal belief you hold that you would fight for to the death?</span><br /><br />Free Credit Report.com commercials suck massive donkey balls. I will defend that with my life. Please do not provide any links to their horribleness. They should not in any way benefit from my hatred.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">76. Dream collaboration?</span><br /><br />Collaboration with any of the rappers I admire would be a dream come true. Public Enemy, De La Soul, Q-Tip and/or Fife Dog, KRS One, Kanye... or any of my "opening acts" above. And being able to pull a sample or two from a classic rock song (or a funk classic) without fear of being sued into the stone age would be quite gratifying!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">80. Worst run-in with the law (to date)?</span><br /><br />Sort of getting busted with weed. The campus cops snagged me late one night. Brought me to like a trailer/substation on campus. Pushed me to narc for hours. I told them nada. They finally released me at like dawn. No charges. Still proud to have not narced.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">84. Most disappointing concert you ever attended?</span><br /><br />This is a tough one. I am tempted to say Freddie Hubbard in Manhattan, 1992-3 ish. You may know him as the player of the horn riff (from Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island") the 1990s rap group US3 used in their one hit song "Cantaloop." He was terrible. He could barely play. But his band was great- basically, they were respectful replicas of Hubbard's former contemporaries. There was a Coltrane-looking guy in a grey suit who dressed and played exactly like Coltrane. A Miles-looking guy, dressed in a red suit like Miles, with Miles' old trumpet, playing like Miles Davis. A piano player in a dashiki playing like Herbie Hancock. The only one who couldnt keep up was Freddie Hubbard, even though the young guys were carefully structuring everything around his pitiful, barely-able-to-make-a-note solos. And Hubbard was pretty angry about it. And the trainwreck was something to see. His band made him look worse, if anything.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">90. Sexiest thing about you?</span><br /><br />My penis.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">91. Which single album should be in everybody's home?</span><br /><br />The White Album (Beatles, natch). This record was formative for me. The range of styles, the dark patches (Helter Skelter, Piggies, Revolution 9), the Manson 'connection,' the sheer beauty of the more mellow tunes like "Blackbird" and "Mother Nature's Son"... there is so much here to love, scratch your head over, or both.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">95. Do you ever read your own reviews?</span><br /><br />Yes! If someone cares enough about me to review something, I care enough to read it!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">96. The one thing that no one knows about you (yet)?</span><br /><br />I am wonderful, yet I totally suck. I derserve large platters of cash to be brought to me by naked ladies. I like cats. My back hurts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.djbc.net/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Visit DJ BC's website here</span></a>.Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-24403955530739740722009-02-03T01:00:00.000-06:002009-02-03T01:00:01.688-06:00ALEATORY #20: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijw_0dlxSaBffmnqFuk02bK_aivTC0NERQ7Eoml84UEkufkVa5LQzCDRTB197vGRhhl4cRuW4qMETUVFezTBCnQaoGwQcTDr2g-WJFSzbDxky2WiecyF9o15-0pg-zNP_EtY2rY6Ce_A3Z/s1600-h/casiotone.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijw_0dlxSaBffmnqFuk02bK_aivTC0NERQ7Eoml84UEkufkVa5LQzCDRTB197vGRhhl4cRuW4qMETUVFezTBCnQaoGwQcTDr2g-WJFSzbDxky2WiecyF9o15-0pg-zNP_EtY2rY6Ce_A3Z/s400/casiotone.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298439633401868562" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Owen Ashworth</span> feels your pain.<br /><br />This is probably why he records so many damn good songs as <span style="font-weight: bold;">Casiotone for the Painfully Alone</span> -- as perfect and descriptive a band name as there's ever been. Maybe you've heard his songs, or seen Los Campesinos! lead singer Gareth wear a CFTPA T-shirt in the documentary that came with the group's <span style="font-style: italic;">We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed</span> album, or maybe you'll just see Owen at SXSW this year, or pick up his new rarities album <span style="font-style: italic;">Advance Base Battery Life</span> on March 10th, or maybe even pick up his new new album <span style="font-style: italic;">Vs. Children</span> in April. No matter what though, Owen's aesthetic -- after all these years -- remains almost exactly the same: plug in a keyboard, turn on the mic, and just play it baby. We feel for you.<br /><br />Congratulations to both him and us: this Globecat's 20th <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html">Aleatory</a> -- thanks guys.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Favorite person to have worked with?</span><br /><br />I used to work in a bakery with a woman named Kara who was really funny and great. we ate a lot of damaged baked goods together.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">10. Favorite lyric?</span><br /><br />I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch you better think about it baby<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">13. Favorite Shakespearean play?</span><br /><br />Cats<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">14. Favorite sound?</span><br /><br />Flute samples played in chords<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Favorite exhibit or subject at the museum?</span><br /><br />Wild animal taxidermy dioramas in natural history museums<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">17. Favorite plant?</span><br /><br />I think it's a tie between kudzu and basil<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">39. What's something you could probably beat anyone you know at?</span><br /><br />I don't mean to brag but I am very good at cribbage<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">40. What was your best/worst subject in school?</span><br /><br />I took some anthropology classes in college that I did pretty well in. I never skipped my anthropology classes. I have never done very well with math. I skipped lots of math.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">42. What's an image that haunts you to this day?</span><br /><br />There was a picture of a dude who had done a mess of PCP and then cut off his face and fed it to his dogs. I saw it on the internet. I still think about it every once in a while and go "ugh" or "ack." Once you put something in your brain you can never take it out again, kids. Think twice before clicking those warning disturbing image links on www.snopes.com.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">43. What's the road ahead look like?</span><br /><br />It is covered with snow and hazardous<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">44. Something you've heard, know is false, but wish were true with all your heart?</span><br /><br />I heard that polar bears hide their black noses with a front paw or leg when they hunt. This helps them blend in with the snow so they can sneak up on school children or seals or whatever. Sort of like a reverse negative Dracula. Polar Drac. I'm pretty sure this is not true but the image is too endearing and chilling to not want to believe in.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">49. Now that you know a much larger audience will get to hear the music you've made, has your writing changed at all? How? What's changed and what's stayed the same?</span><br /><br />Oh man I don't know. I think the biggest factor that has changed my writing has been my age. I get older and I think about different things so I want to sing about different things. Also, once you've written a song, you can't go around rewriting it forever so you actually have to come up with some different ideas every once in a while. I am averaging about thirty songs per idea these days.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">54. So far in your career, what's been your proudest accomplishment?</span><br /><br />Playing in Russia felt pretty nuts. I feel weird listing any names but there have been some people who I have been very proud to have met and shared mutual admiration with. Okay fine Tom Hanks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">57. Most rock star thing you've ever done?</span><br /><br />I accidentally knocked all of my equipment off of a stage and the people in the front caught it and pushed it back upright. And everybody thought it was on purpose and some kind of cool trick. IT WAS NOT A COOL TRICK<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">63. Band/artist you're secretly envious of?</span><br /><br />My friend Nick from No Kids because he lives in Canada and gets all kinds of amazing government grants to record expensive andfabulous sounding records. Also, because I would like to be able to play piano like him. I am pretty lousy musician and I am envious of lots of people's musical abilities.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">67. Do you reach any kind of personal catharsis when it comes to songwriting/performing?</span><br /><br />Yeah, I guess so<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">78. Your life has been reduced to a bumper sticker: what does it say?</span><br /><br />NPR<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">92. Which venue are you dying to play but have not yet had the chance to?</span><br /><br />I would like to play at the Warfield in San Francisco, CA. I saw Kraftwerk play there once and I hear it's haunted.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">94. What's your hardest song to replicate live?</span><br /><br />There are a few songs on my new record that were arranged for many more hands than I have. I haven't tried to play them live yet and I really don't know what to do with them. There are also plenty of old songs of mine that I just don't like to play because I just don't really like them anymore. I would find it hard to replicate those songs with any sort of sincerity, even though they aren't particularly difficult to play.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">99. Licensing your music out to companies for TV ads: good or bad?</span><br /><br />Shit I don't know. I haven't done it yet but maybe if I have a kid who needs braces some day I'll feel differently. You pick your battles, you know?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.cftpa.org/home.htm">Visit Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's website</a>.</span>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-80952092186274448022009-01-29T17:49:00.007-06:002009-01-29T18:03:45.697-06:00ALEATORY #19: Jason Robert Brown<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXt5T_uxkJfGAj4b4DoxVvioQx18Jqtk5KTaJfJdROIqdFV-pYQP7ugAWvbbcu9-HbzxvKLgdgVJ9C4H_9aQK9yqbe6SurDeS9a4mZOyXy9R4-GxStUotsouOAii3LwLDfhKrlDepwEY7/s1600-h/JRBAleatory.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXt5T_uxkJfGAj4b4DoxVvioQx18Jqtk5KTaJfJdROIqdFV-pYQP7ugAWvbbcu9-HbzxvKLgdgVJ9C4H_9aQK9yqbe6SurDeS9a4mZOyXy9R4-GxStUotsouOAii3LwLDfhKrlDepwEY7/s400/JRBAleatory.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296867396168375042" border="0" /></a><br />Tony-winning composer <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jason Robert Brown</span> is bored.<br /><br />After all, the man has released quite a few albums, has created one of the single greatest pocket musicals of all time (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Last Five Years</span>), and even picked up the theatre-world's highest honor when he penned the score for <span style="font-style: italic;">Parade</span>, still a theatrical staple all these years later. Nowadays, it seems that the last thing that JRB wants to do is what's expected of him -- he's now taking risks both big and small to keep things interesting.. He contributed songs to the big-budget, Tony-nominated production of <span style="font-style: italic;">Urban Cowboy</span> and most recently can be seen writing tunes for <span style="font-style: italic;">13</span>, the kid-oriented/acted/performed musical that premiered at the prestigious Mark Taper Forum and has since made its away to Broadway. Yet now, Jason takes on his greatest challenge: responding to the latest Globecat <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html">Aleatory</a>! <br /><br />(<span style="font-style: italic;">Jason enters Stage Left and recites the following ...</span>)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Favorite board game?</span><br /><br />I am a mediocre but avid Scrabblist, and my wife and I used to have epic hostile Scrabble matches, but I travel so much these days that board games are impractical on any consistent basis. I do a lot of Scrabbling and Scrambling on Facebook, but while it is infinitely more addicting, it's ultimately less gratifying.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Favorite person to have worked with?</span><br /><br />In 2001, I got to work with Jon Hendricks, the legendary vocalese writer and singer; Jon sang the vocal parts on the incidental music I wrote for David Lindsay-Abaire's play "Kimberly Akimbo," which included the song "Grow Old With Me." I grew up listening to Lambert, Hendricks & Ross (as well as the version of that group that included Yolande Bavan) and, in fact, most of my knowledge of bebop repertoire comes from having known the vocalized versions first. (I may be the only musician who hears Miles Davis's "Freddie Freeloader" and thinks of the lyrics, thanks to Hendricks's monumental recording of it with Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau and George Benson.) Unlike working with movie stars or rock stars, working with jazz legends turns out to be fairly easy: you pick up the phone and call them. Someone I knew had Jon's manager's number, somehow that led me to Jon's home phone, I called him, offered him a thousand bucks to come sing for three hours, and voilà, I had a recording of one of my heroes singing one of my songs. And Jon was a lot of fun to hang out with that day as well, smart and fast and game for anything (at one point, he was making bird and monkey noises).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Favorite piece of equipment?</span><br /><br />I'm unapologetically analog in most of my habits, though I readily the concede the convenience and fluidity of the digital world. Nonetheless, in order to do my work, I need a piano, a bunch of 2B pencils, a pencil sharpener, staff paper, and a drafting ruler, all of which (except the piano) I travel with at all times. Of those, the piano is the most important, and my favorite piece of equipment therefore is the Yamaha C5 that sits in our backyard studio.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">9. Favorite song to start (or end) a mixtape with?</span><br /><br />Mixtape? I haven't made one since I was 22. I remember making one for my Dad right after I left college that started with Fred Astaire's recording of Irving Berlin's "I'd Rather Lead A Band." And ended with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong doing Gershwin's "A Foggy Day," which is a song my Dad always sang with me when I was a kid.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">11. Favorite music video?</span><br /><br />I wouldn't even know where to see a music video these days, outside of YouTube, I guess. I was growing up when MTV first came on the air, so I tend to have a very proprietary sense of music videos – I was an early adopter! In that vein, whatever I offer will be sort of hopelessly unhip, as though I stopped paying attention twenty years ago, which in fact is the case. But coolness be damned: "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyc37aOqT0">Sledgehammer</a>" by Peter Gabriel, still the winner by a mile.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Favorite exhibit or subject at the museum?</span><br /><br />I've seen two separate exhibits on the work of Henry Darger, which I find endlessly fascinating. It's not just the no-formal-training thing (which, to be honest, annoys me no end when people claim that as a virtue), it's more the unfiltered imagination, and the willingness to improvise new tools when his own technique isn't sufficient. And the whole self-contained mythology of the work is inspiring in its own way.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Favorite pick-up line?</span><br /><br />That I've used myself or that someone's used on me? I don't think I ever had a repertoire of pick-up lines for my own personal use, I'm horrifically shy when it comes to women. Nor have I really been picked up, though I did have one girl ask me to sign her boobs after a concert once. That was killer. (I didn't do it. Maybe her boobs weren't big enough for my whole name?)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Favorite chord/chord progression?</span><br /><br />Neil Finn does this thing all the time where he's been sitting in a minor key and then just pops in to the relative major, and it's always the most delightful moment. You can hear it in Crowded House's "When You Come," right at the top of the chorus: "And that is why" (there's the minor) "I stumble to my knee-ees!" (there's the major). So satisfying. I steal it whenever I remember to; certainly in "Over," I do it right in the verse.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">29. Who do you wish more people were listening to?</span><br /><br />Kate McGarry, incredible jazz singer, though "jazz" is too confining a label to put on the work she does; she and her husband, guitarist Keith Ganz, are brilliant interpreters a<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiAa2bOceCZafnv2rW4qukcNhRWeEJTVk-BJAfR_dah-cImS9GG2TzxJhcgoqUqo0kROI5TdhDO0-efORaVCO_AC2uk18B87GbqxdnzBfhUF-TYrmBBUjsv3j9nrDM11TLyaMU7VwFp41/s1600-h/JRB2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiAa2bOceCZafnv2rW4qukcNhRWeEJTVk-BJAfR_dah-cImS9GG2TzxJhcgoqUqo0kROI5TdhDO0-efORaVCO_AC2uk18B87GbqxdnzBfhUF-TYrmBBUjsv3j9nrDM11TLyaMU7VwFp41/s320/JRB2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296869239652046034" border="0" /></a>nd very deep souls. And Kate's songwriting is very strong and very fresh.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">31. Other than musician, what career would you most enjoy?</span><br /><br />Ultimately, I think music is just the outlet I generally choose for my creativity, but I live to create, and if it weren't music, it would be something else. As mercurial as I am, whatever I would most enjoy today would make me crazy by the middle of next year.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">34. What's the best joke you heard recently?</span><br /><br />I've been telling this one for a while now, but it's a winner, courtesy of David Evans (who is the world's foremost joke-teller):<br /><br />Mr. Lipkin hasn't been to the doctor in a long time, finally he decides it's time for a checkup. He goes in to the doctor's office, the doctors says to him, "All right, Mr. Lipkin, it's been quite a while, we're gonna need some things. We're gonna need a blood sample, a urine sample, a semen sample, and a stool sample." Mr. Lipkin looks at the doctor and says, "Should I just give you my shorts?"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">36. Lyrics first or music first?</span><br /><br />I get asked this question so often I should probably come up with an interesting answer. Really, what comes first is generally the title. That may not be the title I finally end up with, but I need someplace to start, and usually a good phrase is the best medicine. If I can encapsulate what I want the song to say in a couple of words, then I always know where I'm heading. From there, I'll start determining a musical energy, a particular style; that's decided as much by the character and the situation and the moment in the plot as by my own whimsy. And once I have that "groove" (which may or may not be very groovy), I'll start singing a melody to it, appending the title whenever it feels appropriate. I've been describing that process that way for so long that it's really no longer accurate, at least not always, but it still sounds like a good answer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">46. Where do you keep things hidden? What do you keep hidden there?</span><br /><br />Well, now, if I told you...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">48. Biggest moment of triumph?</span><br /><br />Honestly this: when the woman who was to be my wife and the mother of my child first kissed me, in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2000.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">61. What's the best advice you could give to a young, upstart composer?</span><br /><br />Write SONGS. Too many theater composers feel the need to write huge sequences without any sense of the underlying structure. Songs, songs, songs. If you can master AABA, you can stretch it any way you want.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">63. Band/artist you're secretly envious of?</span><br /><br />Secretly? I'm the most openly envious person I know. What good is envy if you're gonna keep it all inside? And furthermore, why just direct it at one band or artist? I'm envious of everyone, all the time. Keeps the creative juices flowing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">64. Weirdest promotion you've been a part of?</span><br /><br />Honestly, nothing comes to mind.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">75. Very first song that you ever wrote?</span><br /><br />I think when I was eight years old, I wrote a song called "Come Back To Me," which told the story of a lovelorn young man desperate for the return of his girl, Jenny. (I did not know a girl named Jenny at the time, at least not well enough for me to immortalize her in song.) The chords, moving every two beats, were C, Bdim, Am, G, F, G, C. I thought I was the first person to come up with those changes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">79. Best concert you've ever been to?</span><br /><br />In the same week in (I think) 1997, I saw Michel Petrucciani play Birdland with Anthony Jackson and Steve Gadd AND I saw Aretha Franklin do a gospel concert at Avery Fisher Hall. To see musicianship at that high a level up close, twice in one week, really raised the bar for me. Aretha only did a half-hour long set, but it was still clear that she wasn't coasting or faking – she was feeling it, she was reaching for it, and whatever she needed to express, she had the tools to do it; and Petrucciani played with such inventiveness, such tastefulness, and such unbelievable groove that I redefined my sense of what jazz piano was supposed to be just from that one concert. So: not a bad week.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">87. Ultimately, you will want to be remembered as …</span><br /><br />At the moment, I'll say I want to be remembered as a musician. When people write about the theater, so much of the focus is on the words, the acting, the singing; I write for the theater by going from the music out. If you don't understand the music I'm writing, then you won't understand the levels of theater I'm creating, and I feel that, all too often, the music just gets lost in the discussion. So I'd like to be remembered as a guy who put a lot of serious thought into how to make the music part of the theater, and how to make all the parts breathe together with the music leading the way.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.jasonrobertbrown.com/">Visit Jason Robert Brown's website</a>.</span>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334198848596433812.post-73704720328389650262009-01-21T00:23:00.006-06:002009-01-21T00:47:06.867-06:00ALEATORY #18: Plants and Animals<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZODCtlUr_bo1SrklPPqJDj5Xr2BP10MNMHnEAYM9HRAiHm0mpTukKK4n3yTuCl-R_szNsn_83YOtwUg9Mio3INbOpHeVnmItpz0Lbtm4zdDss1sIiEP4NLaYZwL5ZmwdpmtvTdk7MteI2/s1600-h/Plants+and+Animals.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZODCtlUr_bo1SrklPPqJDj5Xr2BP10MNMHnEAYM9HRAiHm0mpTukKK4n3yTuCl-R_szNsn_83YOtwUg9Mio3INbOpHeVnmItpz0Lbtm4zdDss1sIiEP4NLaYZwL5ZmwdpmtvTdk7MteI2/s400/Plants+and+Animals.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293631535153556290" border="0" /></a>Global warming aside, 2008<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>was good to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Plants and Animals</span>. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Parc Avenue</span>, their debut full-length (out now on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Secret City Records</span>: pick it up, friends) was shortlisted for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Polaris Prize<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span>(given to the best Canadian album of each year), and ranked very highly on many many other year-end lists. Somewhere in between gearing up for tour and getting lavished with praise, drummer/vocalist <span style="font-weight: bold;">Matthew Woodley </span>found time for us and filled out our eighteenth <a href="http://globecat.blogspot.com/2008/06/aleatory.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aleatory</span></a>. Many thanks to him, and to the rest of the flora/fauna of the band!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">+++<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Favorite word?</span><br />Hamburger<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Favorite person to have worked with?</span><br />Sarah Neufeld<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Favorite visual artist?/Favorite work of visual art?</span><br />Alex Usow (www.sharksandhammers.com)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">8. Favorite author?/Favorite book?</span><br />Jonathan Lethem - Motherless Brooklyn<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">16. Favorite campfire story?</span><br />The one about the very horrific thing that actually happened very close to where we're camping tonight.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">18. Favorite pick-up line?</span><br />Do you you work at UPS? Because I noticed you checking out my package. WHA!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">20. Favorite new band?</span><br />Metro League<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">22. Favorite vice?</span><br />Sears Catalogue<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27. Favorite chord/chord progression?</span><br />I'm more of a metric modulation guy. Partial to anything in D though.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">28. What instrument would you most like to learn to play?</span><br />Piano<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">29. Who do you wish more people were listening to?</span><br />Katie Moore<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">39. What's something you could probably beat anyone you know at?</span><br />A whistling competition<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">48. Biggest moment of triumph?</span><br />Nova Scotia under-15 provincial fencing champion<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">65. Ever see yourself penning the score/soundtrack to a TV show or film?</span><br />Yes I do.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">77. What was the hardest part about recording your current release?</span><br />Going to work in between.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">81. If you could sync an album of yours to a movie (like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz), what movie would it be?</span><br />Anything with Danny DeVito.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">90. Sexiest thing about you?</span><br />I have no neck.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">95. Do you ever read your own reviews?</span><br />If it's critical.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">96. The one thing that no one knows about you (yet)?</span><br />I'm saving up for a neck implant.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">100. Even with the gradual decay of the B-side, most artists still have vaults of unreleased songs. What's in yours?<br /></span>Less Danny DeVito, more Will Smith.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />+++<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.plantsandanimals.ca">Visit Plants and Animals' website</a>.<br /></div></div>Globecathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17176814634029907779noreply@blogger.com